Author: story of a kitchen [from Food & Wine magazine, 2008 (from Chef Susan Spungen)]
Recipe type: dessert
Ingredients
½ cup unsalted shelled pistachios*
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon pure almond extract
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
11 ounces soft goat cheese
2 cups full-fat Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
½ cup confectioners' sugar
⅓ cup clover honey (I actually used a robust, dark honey because I thought it would stand up well to the goat cheese)
Instructions
In a food processor, pulse the pistachios until finely ground. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with the granulated sugar at medium speed until pale, about 1 minute. Add the ground pistachios, almond extract and salt and beat until combined. Add the flour and beat at low speed until incorporated and the dough is crumbly.
Scrape the dough into a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.** Using the bottom of a glass, press the dough over the bottom and up the side of the tart pan.*** Refrigerate until chilled, 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Bake the crust for about 45 minutes, until lightly golden. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.
In the bowl of the mixer, beat the goat cheese, yogurt, lime juice and lime zest until combined. Add the confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth. Scrape the filling into the crust and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Just before serving, in a small saucepan, cook the honey over moderately high heat until it reaches 236 degrees F on a candy thermometer, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir until slightly cooled, about 2 minutes. Drizzle the honey over the tart and let stand until the honey firms up, about 5 minutes. Cut the tart into wedges and serve.**** Serves 10-12.
Make Ahead: The tart can be prepared through Step 4 and refrigerated overnight.
Notes
* What a pain to try to find UNsalted pistachios! I finally found them at Whole Foods.
** I did not have a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, so I jerry-rigged a 9-inch straight-edged round pan with parchment on the sides and bottom, as well as "pull tabs" (see photo and commentary above). I was convinced it wouldn't work. The crust was thick enough, though, and after fully cooling it and refrigerating the filled tart, pulling it gently from the pan and placing it on my serving plate worked beautifully. Or maybe I was incredibly lucky!
*** This method didn't work for me. The glass kept sticking to the dough so I ended up just using my hands. Make sure to push the crust up the sides of the pan to make the sides between 2-3 centimeters high. Otherwise, your filling may look a little tall. My filling relaxed a little once chilled, but I considered taking a few spoonfuls out of the filled crust because I thought it looked a little overstuffed.
**** I've also drizzled the honey on the tart without cooking the honey first. Less work and still very good. Do it just before serving, or the honey will soak into the tart and not look as pretty on presentation (even though it still will taste great).
Recipe by story of a kitchen at https://www.storyofakitchen.com/dessert-recipes/goat-cheese-tart/