Torta Della Nonna (Grandma’s Pie)
Today I am diving into an old school Italian dessert, a rustic pie or tart made with a flaky shortbread crust and filled with a creamy custard, otherwise known as Torta Della Nonna (Grandma’s Pie).
What makes this pie so special for Italian cooks and home bakers is it often conjures up some warm, fond memories of seeing their nonna or grandmother in the kitchen, making loads of stunning desserts, including this pie, and I have decided to try making this dessert myself!
Usually a Torta Della Nonna is filled with a vanilla-lemon pastry cream and is then topped with pine nuts, but I’m giving it a nutty twist with some pistachio and will be serving it with a thick chocolate sauce. Chocolate and pistachio is a match made in heaven for me, so I can’t see how this pistachio Torta Della Nonna won’t be fantastic.
Serves 8-10
For the Crust:
4 cups flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
For the Pistachio Custard Filling:
1 1/3 cups unsalted, shelled, skinned pistachios*
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
A pinch of salt
For Assembly:
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup unsalted, shelled pistachios
1 egg white
Powdered sugar, for dusting
For the Chocolate Sauce:
6 oz bittersweet (65-70%) chocolate
6 oz heavy cream
*If you can only find salted pistachios, then just don’t add any additional salt to the custard
To make the crust, dump the flour into a food processor then add the butter. Pulse the mixture 8-10 times, or until the butter breaks down into tiny crumbs. Add the remaining crust ingredients, then pulse until a smooth dough forms.
Divide the dough among two pieces of plastic wrap and, using the wrap to help you, flatten and shape the dough into discs. Set them in the fridge for at least an hour, or until firm.
Wash out the food processor, then tip in the pistachios for the filling then blend for about 3 minutes, or until the nuts break down into a pistachio butter, scraping down the sides of the food processor now and then.
Set aside 1/3 cup of the pistachio butter for the filling, the rest can be stored in an airtight container and stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla together until hot, it doesn’t have to boil. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large heatproof bowl. Once the milk is hot, add a splash to the yolks, and whisk to combine.
(The egg mixture is going to look somewhat dry at first, but don’t worry about that. Once you add the hot milk, it’ll smooth itself out.)
Pour the yolks into the pot with the milk, then cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens. Remove from the heat, then add the 1/3 cup of pistachio butter from earlier and whisk to combine. (This custard will be very thick, so get ready for a workout!)
Pass the custard through a fine-mesh strainer, cover directly with plastic wrap, then put it into the fridge until it’s cooled completely.
Once the custard is cooled, Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Roll one half of the dough into at least 12 inches in diameter. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie tin, lift up the sides of the dough to ensure the bottom and edges of the pan are covered. Prick the bottom a few times with a fork.
Add the pistachio custard into the pastry, ensuring to spread into an even layer. Roll the other half of your dough the same as before, then lay that on top of the custard and bottom half of dough. Use your fingers to squish the two halves of dough together around the edges and use a paring knife to trim away any hanging excess pastry.
Brush the top pastry with the egg white, prick it with a cocktail stick or metal skewer a few times, and top with the pine nuts and pistachios. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden on top. Let the pie cool completely.
To make the chocolate sauce, simply place the chocolate and cream into a microwave safe bowl, then microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until the chocolate is fully melted and the sauce becomes smooth. Simple as that.
When ready to serve, dust the top of the pie with powdered sugar, then cut into individual slices, serving with the chocolate sauce.
