Chocolate Spread Pistachio Tart (Vegan)

So here is my utterly scrumptious tart made using the valsoia hazelnut chocolate spread, encased in my sweet shortcrust pastry & decorated with pistachios. I absolutely love the taste, colour & contrast that the pistachios bring.

I made my sweet shortcrust pastry using a recipe from my Home Economics school days. The trick with this pastry is not to over work it & let it rest for a minimum of 30 minutes in the fridge. Note: if you want to make the pastry gluten-free, then just substitute the plain flour for gluten-free flour.

The whole tart is 💯 vegan, but 200% creamy, chocolatey + nutty! The ganache type filling is set with a little cornflour & agar agar.

Mangia, mangia! 👩🏻‍🍳

Chocolate spread pistachio tart recipe:

Sweet short crust pastry

200g sifted plain flour or gluten-free plain flour
100g cubed chilled vegan butter (I used Flora Plant B+tter)
2 tbsps icing sugar (sifted)
3-4 tbsps ice cold water (may not need all of it)

Filling

400ml almond milk
2-3 tbsps cornflour - slacked with a little almond milk
3/4 tub “valsoia” hazelnut chocolate spread or equivalent vegan chocolate spread
3/4 tsp powdered agar agar
1 tsp vanilla bean extract

Topping

100g roasted pistachios to decorate - I shelled them, before chopping them

Serves 8-10 people

1. Make the shortcrust pastry first - rub the flour, butter & sugar gently together, then trickle in the water until you form a soft, not sticky dough. Wrap & pop it straight into the fridge to chill for at least 30 mins.

2. Rollout your pastry larger than your 9-inch tart tin & gently lay it across the tin & press the pastry to the corners but don’t trim off the edges. Note: if you do have any excess pastry left like me, then freeze it until you need to use it next. Chill in the fridge whilst the oven is preheating.

3. Preheat the oven to 170 °C fan or equivalent.

4. Fill the pastry case with a round of baking paper & add baking beans or like me I use rice. Bake for 15 mins, then carefully remove the paper & beans or rice & cook the pastry for another 10-15 mins more. Carefully trim off the excess pastry using a small sharp knife.

5. Whilst the pastry case is cooling, make your filling. On a medium heat whisk the chocolate spread, almond milk, cornflour & continue whisking for a couple of minutes. When the mixture is nearly boiling then add in the agar agar, lower the heat & continue whisking for at least 4-5 minutes. Take off the heat & stir in the vanilla extract.

6. Pour the filling into the pastry case, do not delay doing this because as the filling cools it starts setting. Spread gently to the edge & let it cool slightly, before chilling in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours.

7. Before serving, decorate the tart with the chopped pistachios. Up to you if you want to just decorate the edge like me or scatter the whole tart with the pistachios.

8. The tart will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.