Gluten Free Almond Tart Shell
With many years a planning, I have realized that making an almond tart shell is very easy. It is naturally GF and makes a good base for serving an Indian dessert. My favorite thing to do with it, around Thanksgiving anyway is to fill it with my Sweet Potato Halwa. The sweet potato halwa is done in the instant pot, and this crust takes maybe 20 minutes tops to put together. Together you have an impressive seasonal treat. So another score for your easier smaller Thanksgiving.
My Almond Tart Shell Story
Reconciling to a smaller Thanksgiving has taken me a little time. But, it is important to be safe and not selfish. I will tell you all the online teaching that I have been doing has helped me a lot. It has helped me build a safe sense of community. Not to mention the lives that I have been doing. The COVID 19 numbers are getting grim again. However, there still way to many pockets of the country that seem to be disregarding caution. There still appear to be too many people willing to travel for Thanksgiving.
As I have been saying, a smaller Thanksgiving does not have to be boring. Now this tart shell is perfect for anything, but thanks to the cardamom it is especially well suited for Indian desserts. However, I think that it will work just fine for this Tomato and Ricotta Tart.
A Little More about this Gluten Free Almond Tart Shell.
And I use almond meal for the base. It is more robust than almond flour and I think that is actually a good thing for this.
- The almond meal browns nicely offering a nice depth of flavor for the shell.
- Use fresh cardamom, it does make a world of difference.
- To keep the shell vegan you can use coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed instead of the egg.
- The tart shell freezes well so, it can be made ahead and filled when you need to.
If you are going to do my sweet potato halwa thing, the entire dessert can be done ahead and served when needed.
If you like this recipe and want more ideas, do join my Indian Instant Pot Facebook group and Legume Love Group. Of course Instant Indian is waiting to be ordered, joining its siblings The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons.
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An easy to put together naturally gluten free tart shell.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups almond meal or flour
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
- 5 tablespoons cold butter plus more for greasing the pie shell
- 3 tablespoons sugar (can be skipped if using as a savory base)
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and prepare a tart pan, preferably a spring form tart pan.
- Place the almond meal or flour, ground cardamom, cold butter, sugar and egg in a food processor and process until well mixed. The mixture should form loose ball.
- Remove from the food processor and gradually press down evenly around the tart pan, until it is uniformly spread into a thin layer.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, the shell should darken and turn fragrant. Remove from the oven and fill and use as needed.