Receta Nick Maglieri's Chocolate Hazelnut Tart
Several weeks ago, Andrew went to the
Institute of Culinary Education, a great cooking school on 23rd St.
in Chelsea (www.ice.edu) where
he had signed up with one of the masters of the baking arts, Nick
Maglieri. The class was small – just 9
students – and the night was an intensive Pastry Making session. The course was called “Perfect Pastry” and
Chef Maglieri really put his small class through its paces. The class featured
the making of three essential doughs: Olive Oil dough for savory pies and
tarts, “Quickest” Puff Pastry and Classic Sweet pastry dough for dessert pies
and tarts. The class was broken up into
teams who divided the savory pie fillings—Spinach and Bacon, Gruyère and
Scallions—and the sweet pie fillings –Pecan and Chocolate Hazelnut—and then
they all made a Bistro Apple Tart and Puff Pastry Straws. He came home absolutely exhausted, mostly
from having worked all day and then standing all night. But he also came home
triumphant because he felt he’d really knocked pastry making.
Chef Malgieri's latest book
does not contain the recipe for
Chocolate Hazelnut Tart To prove that point, our friend Terry’s
Birthday gave Andrew an opportunity to make Chef Maglieri’s Chocolate Hazelnut
Tart, a recipe so new, it is yet to be published anywhere but right here, right
now. For
the same party, he also made Cheese Straws with the “Quickest” Puff pastry
dough. I keep putting “Quickest” in
quotes because to the untrained eye –mine—the effort seemed enormous. ( I am going to post the Cheese Straws
separately and just in time for Thanksgiving.) And
I think the Chocolate Hazelnut Tart would be a great addition to anyone’s
Thanksgiving table. I’ll let you in
on one little secret: You can switch this to a pecan pie simply by omitting the
chocolate, substituting pecans for the hazelnuts and using a 9-inch pie pan
instead of the 10-inch tart pan. Without
further ado, here is the recipe but first, Chef Maglieri’s words of wisdom on
pastry making:
1. Always use cold butter in very
small pieces. They will better incorporate into the dough.
2. In rolling the dough, aim to
make it 1/8 inch thick and not any thinner.
Using the model of a clock face, roll the dough from 6 o’clock to 12
o’clock and then 2 o’clock to 8 o’clock and finally from 10 o’clock to 4
o’clock.
3. When
working with dough for a tart pan, divide the dough into thirds.
Take two thirds of it and press it into the bottom of a buttered and flowered tart pan. Take the remaining third and divide it into three equal strips. Roll each of the strips about the length of the diameter of the tart pan and
then press them in along the
edges. If you are mathematically
inclined, you may recognize that
Pi equals 3.14159 so three strips the same length
of the diameter of the pan can be stretched and molded to fit the entire pan edge.
4.To skin and chop hazelnuts, bake the
nuts on a cookie sheet at 350° F for
12-13 minutes till the point where you see wisps of smoke and cracked shells.
5. Rub the hazelnuts with a towel to
remove the skins.
6. Hazelnuts can’t be chopped with a knife
because they are round. But a food
processor can be pressed into service or you can
smash them under the weight of a cast iron skillet.
Now
here are the recipes:
Master Recipe for Chef
Maglieri’s Sweet Pastry Dough:
To
make the Chocolate Hazelnut Tart, you only need to make half this recipe. But
you can freeze the other half and then use it at a later date.
8 tablespoons (4 oz. or 1 stick) unsalted butter,
cold and cut into ten pieces.
1. Combine dry ingredients in the work bowl of a food
processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse to mix.
2. Cut butter into 10 pieces
and add. Pulse to mix in butter finely.
3. Add egg and continue to pulse until
dough forms a loose ball.
4. Gather the pastry together and make it into a disc-shape.
5. Cut the dough in half and wrap each one in plastic wrap. Chill dough until ready to bake the tart.
For the Chocolate Hazelnut Filling:
According to Chef Maglieri, the inspiration for this
- filling in a Piemontese chocolate hazelnut confection called “Gianduja”
- One 10 inch tart pan with removable bottom
- Half batch of Sweet Pastry Dough
- 2 cups (10 oz) whole hazelnuts, shelled
- 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate in pellets or cut into ¼
- inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8
- pieces
- 2 tablespoons dark rum or Bourbon (optional
1. Roll
the dough on a floured surface and line the pan using the instructions in item
3 above. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
2. Set
a rack in the lowest level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
3. If
the hazelnuts are not already skinned, follow the instructions in items 4, 5
and 6 above.
4. For
the filling, combine the corn syrup and sugar in a medium sauce pan and stir
well to mix.
5. Place on medium heat and bring to a full boil, stirring
occasionally.
6. Off heat, add the
chocolate and butter and gently shake the pan once or twice to submerge them.
7. Be sure to let the chocolate sit in the hot
sugar mixture for a few minutes before whisking to ensure that an even
chocolate melt is achieved.
8. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then the
salt and the rum. Stir in the hazelnuts.
9. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and
bake the tart until the dough is baked through and deep golden at the top edge
of the crust, and the filling is set, about 35 to 40 minutes.
10. Cool on rack. Unmold the tart and slide it from the pan
bottom to a platter.
11. Serve with a
dollop of whipped cream.