Strawberry and pistachio tarts

Method

1. To make the pastry, pulse the pistachios in a food processor until very finely chopped, then set aside. Whizz the butter and egg in a food processor until creamy. Add the dry ingredients gradually until the dough comes together, then finally add the chopped pistachios and pulse a few times. Transfer the pastry to a lightly floured board, knead briefly until just smooth, then shape into a thick disc, wrap in cling film and chill for at least an hour.
2. Pour the cream into a large bowl, add the vanilla seeds (keep the pods to flavour bags of sugar or to add flavour to custard) and sift in the icing sugar, then whip with a whisk or electric hand mixer until it forms soft peaks – if you lift the whisk out, the peak that forms will curl over a little. Chill until needed.
3. Remove the pastry from the fridge and leave to sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, hull and quarter the strawberries, put in a bowl and sprinkle with the caster sugar. Set aside so the sugar dissolves and gives them a sweet glaze.
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4. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas 5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to the thickness of a one-pound coin. Use a pastry case tin as a guide and cut out 6 discs about 12-13cm in diameter. Carefully line each mould with pastry, pressing the pastry into the fluted edges. Roll the rolling pin over the top of each case to remove the excess pastry and leave a clean edge. Re-roll the pastry trimmings as needed.
5. Chill the pastry cases in the freezer for 15 minutes, then line with foil, fill with baking beans or rice and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans/rice and bake for a further 5 minutes until sandy coloured and crisp all over. Leave the cases to cool completely.
6. To assemble, take the whipped cream from the fridge and whip it briefly again to firm it up. Fill each tart one-third full with the cream, smoothing the top until even. Drain the strawberries of any excess juice, then arrange them standing up neatly in the tart cases. The cream will rise as you push the strawberries in. Scatter over the chopped nuts and dust with icing sugar. Once assembled, these will keep for 2 hours.