Lemon Pistachio Tartlets + a confession + some news

First the confession...
Have you heard of Food52?  I have and I have been secretly holding out on you because I want to to win and I would like to keep the entries to a minimum.  Okay, so I realized this was unfair of me and if you haven't, you should check it out.

It is a website that requests a certain type of recipe each week for a contest {for example: give us your best late winter tart recipe} and you have one week to turn in a recipe.  If you win, you are published in a cookbook that they publish once a year... get it? 52 recipes for 52 weeks= food 52.  Anyway, they upped the ante big time a couple of weeks ago and when they asked for late winter tarts, they announced that if you won, you would be flown to New York to be on the Martha Stewart Show to make your tart to help celebrate her new pie and tart cookbook.

I was beside myself. Being on the Martha Stewart show is on my bucket list and although I'm at the ripe old age of 26, you can never check things off too soon.  Anyway, I went to work on lots of versions of this original recipe and came up with my lemon pistachio tartlets.  By the time I finally turned it in, I really didn't have much hope of actually winning.  There seem to be true professionals on this site who have been entering for years and I was up against 265 other tarts.

No I did not win, but...
So when I found out I wasn't chosen as one of the top two to be voted on, I wasn't that surprised, but I had high hopes of being a part of the honorable mentions... aka editor's picks.  Food52 puts out a few of their picks of all the entries and asks members of the community to test them out.  Those that are given great reviews are picked as Editor's Picks.

So I am happy to say that I did get picked as an Editor's Pick! It was exciting for me and especially because I am still venturing into the world of making recipes my own.

So all that to say, I just wanted to share a little foodie triumph and share this recipe that would be pretty darn perfect for brunch or shower.  I love easy, mini pick up food, which is why I insisted on these being mini and they turned out to be quite addictive too.

Just in case you want to check out other editor's picks, click here for a link to the blog post... 


Now for the tartlets...

Lemon Pistachio Tartlets
Recipe Note: If you would rather not mess with candied lemon peels, you can leave that garnish off, but I do like the extra layer of lemon myself. 
Makes 48 tartlets For the crust and candied lemon peels:

• FOR THE CANDIED LEMON PEELS
• 3 large lemons (look for ones with thick skin)
• 3 cups sugar
• FOR THE CRUST
• 3/4 cups unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 144 whole roasted and salted pistachios, shelled (about 2 cups unshelled)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using a vegetable peeler, peel off pieces of the skin from top to bottom into long ribbons. Place peels in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring water to a boil and simmer for one minute. Drain water and repeat one more time. Dissolve 3 cups of sugar into 2 cups of cold water. Bring water to a boil and add lemons. Turn heat to low and let simmer for one hour. Ask a question about this step.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in medium sized saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and add sugars, zest and almond extract. Stir to combine. Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until combined and crumbly. Let crust rest for 15 minutes. Ask a question about this step.
3. Spray two mini muffin tins with a good coat of nonstick cooking spray. After crust has rested for 15 minutes, spoon a heaping teaspoon of crumbly dough into each cup. The goal is to get the entire cup covered with the least amount of dough. Technique: Using your thumbs, press dough into the bottom of the pan. Then, use your thumbs to spread the dough up the sides until whole cup is covered evenly. Bake crusts for 8 minutes. Allow to cool and drop 3 pistachios into each cup. Ask a question about this step.
4. After lemon peels have simmered for an hour, remove from liquid and allow to cool. Cut peels into 1 inch chunks. Lemon peels will not dry out completely, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Ask a question about this step.

For the filling, glaze and finishing touches:

• FOR THE FILLING
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 XL eggs, room temperature, beaten
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• FOR THE GLAZE
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• FOR FINAL TOUCHES
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Prepare filling while crusts are baking and lemon peels are simmering. In a medium sized bowl, stir together sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, zest and juice and stir to combine. Using a tablespoon, fill each crust cup with lemon filling. Fill to the top of the crust line, but do not go over. (if filling floods out over crust, it will be more difficult to remove from pan). Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan. Ask a question about this step.
2. Meanwhile, prepare glaze. Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and butter in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush or small spoon, paint the top of each cooled tartlet with the glaze and place a sliver of candied lemon on top of each. Slide a small, sharp pairing knife in between the crust and pan until each tartlet pops out. When ready to serve, dust heavily with powdered sugar. Ask a question about this step.
3. Can be stored in an airtight container up to one week.