Lemon Sabayon-Pine Nut Tart with Honeyed Mascarpone Cream

Serves 3

Ingredients:

Lemon Sabayon

Mascarpone Cream

Directions:

1. Place the pine nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the sugar and pulse a few more times. Add the flour and continue to pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Place the mixture in a mixing bowl, and mix by hand or in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix until the ingredients just begin to come together.
2. Grease and flour a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Place the tart pan in the freezer to firm up the dough, about 30 minutes. While the dough is in the freezer, preheat the oven to 350°. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the tart shell to cool while you make the filling.

Lemon Sabayon

1. Putting it Together: For the sabayon, fill the base of a medium saucepan or the bottom of a double boiler with 1 1/2" of water. Bring the water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, whisk the eggs, yolks, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl (which will rest on top of the saucepan) or in the top of the double boiler until smooth. Set the mixture over the pot, and whisk, turning the bowl while whisking, to heat up the mixture.
2. Once the mixture is foamy and is starting to thicken, add 1/3 of the lemon juice. Continue to whisk until the mixture thickens again, and add another 1/3 of the juice. Repeat this process a third time, incorporating the remaining juice. Continue whisking until the mixture is thickened, light in color, and the whisk leaves a trail on the bottom of the bowl.
3. Turn off the heat, but leave the bowl or top of the double boiler over the hot water. Whisk in the butter a piece at a time. (The sabayon may loosen a bit, but will thicken as it sets and cools.) Pour the warm sabayon into the tart shell, and place the pan on a baking sheet. Allow the tart to sit at room temperature at least 1 hour before serving. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
4. For the mascarpone cream, whip the cream until it is frothy. Add the mascarpone and honey and continue whipping until the cream is thick and creamy. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
5. Serve slices of the tart with the mascarpone cream on the side.

Mascarpone Cream