Gianduia Pie Recipes

EASTER PIE

Steps:

• Blend 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange zest and ricotta in a food processor until smooth. Stir in the rice and pine nuts. Set the ricotta mixture aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Lightly butter a 9-inch glass pie dish. Lay 1 phyllo sheet over the bottom and up the sides of the dish, allowing the phyllo to hang over the sides. Brush the phyllo with the melted butter. Top with a second sheet of phyllo dough, laying it in the opposite direction as the first phyllo sheet. Continue layering the remaining sheets of phyllo sheets, alternating after each layer and buttering each sheet. Spoon the ricotta mixture into the dish. Fold the overhanging phyllo dough over the top of the filling to enclose it completely. Brush completely with melted butter.
• Bake the pie until the phyllo is golden brown and the filling is set, about 35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over the pie and serve.

GIANDUJA BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Spread each of the brownies with 1 tablespoon of nutella. Sprinkle each of the brownies with 1 tablespoon chopped hazelnuts. Top the nuts with 1 tablespoon mini chocolate chips. Place the brownies on a baking sheet and bake for 5 to 7 minutes until the chocolate is starting to melt. Transfer the brownies to the refrigerator and let cool until the chocolate hardens, about one hour.

GIANDUJA

Steps:

• Line an 8-in. square dish with foil. Place hazelnuts and oil in a food processor; cover and process until mixture forms a paste. , In a large saucepan, melt bittersweet chocolate. Stir in 2-1/4 cups hazelnut mixture. Pour half of mixture into prepared dish. Refrigerate until firm., Melt candy bars; stir in remaining hazelnut mixture. Pour over bittersweet layer. Refrigerate until firm., Reheat remaining bittersweet mixture if necessary; pour over candy bar layer. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into 1-in. squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

GIANDUIA HEARTS

Steps:

• Toast and skin hazelnuts. In a food processor pulse hazelnuts with sugar until finely ground. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together flour, hazelnut mixture, and a pinch salt until combined well. Cut butter into small pieces and at a low speed beat into flour mixture until mixture just forms a dough. Turn dough out onto a work surface and gather into a ball.
• Halve dough and roll out each half between sheets of wax paper into a 13-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Remove top sheet of wax paper from each round and with a 2-inch heart-shaped cutter cut out hearts, leaving all of dough on wax paper. (Do not remove any cut-outs from dough; keep hearts intact on wax paper. Replace top sheet of wax paper and stack dough on baking sheet. Chill dough until firm, at least 15 minutes, and up to 3 days.
• Preheat oven to 350° F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• With a metal spatula lift hearts from wax paper and arrange about 1 inch apart on lined baking sheets. Reroll scraps and make and chill more hearts in same manner.
• Bake hearts in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 12 minutes total. Transfer hearts to racks to cool completely. Cookies may be made up to this point 3 days ahead and kept in airtight containers at room temperature.
• Chop chocolates into small pieces and in a bowl combine with hazelnut butter. In a small saucepan bring cream to a simmer and immediately remove pan from heat. Stir hot cream into chocolate mixture until filling is smooth. Chill filling until slightly firm, about 15 minutes. On a work surface arrange half of hearts bottom sides up. Spread about 1 tablespoon filling on each, covering surface evenly, and top with remaining hearts, bottom sides down. Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container and chilled, 1 day.
• Or available for purchase from Dundee Orchards, P.O. Box 327, Dundee, OR 97115, (503) 538-8105

GIANDUJA CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C.) Butter a 9 inch springform pan. Lay one sheet of phyllo dough in the pan. Tuck it into the pan and let the edges overhang the rim. Brush with butter and layer a second sheet of phyllo. Butter this sheet. Continue until you have used all four sheets of phyllo. End with butter. Use as little butter as possible. Cover the phyllo-filled pan with a damp cloth.
• In the top of a double boiler, heat gianduia chocolate and unsweetened chocolate, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.
• In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese until smooth. When no lumps remain, begin to beat in the sugar a little at a time. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time incorporating each yolk completely before adding the next. Finally beat in the melted and cooled chocolates and the liqueur.
• Beat the egg whites until they just get stiff. Do not over beat. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the cheese mixture, then quickly fold in the remaining whites until no streaks remain. Be careful not to deflate the whites as much as possible. Pour the filling into the phyllo-lined pan. Tuck the edges of the phyllo into the pan making a bit of a rim.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until filling is set. It will still seem a little loose in the center. When the cake appears done, turn off the oven, prop open the oven door with a wooden spoon and let the cake remain in the oven for another hour. Then place the cake in the refrigerator until completely chilled.

GIANDUIA GELATO

Steps:

• Pulse hazelnuts with sugar and salt in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to a heavy medium saucepan with milk and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let steep, covered, 20 minutes.
• Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then return to cleaned saucepan.
• Put 1/4 cup milk mixture in a small bowl and whisk in cornstarch. Return to saucepan, then boil over medium heat 2 minutes, whisking often (mixture will be thick). Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until melted and incorporated. Chill, stirring occasionally, until very cold, 3 to 6 hours.
• Freeze mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up.

GIANDUIA PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Process cookies and nuts in a food processor until finely ground. Add melted butter, sugar, salt and vanilla and pulse to moisten cookie mixture. Press the mixture across the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate, packing it tightly with your fingertips. Bake until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Cool completely before filling.
• Place the nuts in a food processor and chop finely. Set aside. With an electric mixer, whip the cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, combine 1/4 of the whipped cream with the Nutella. Stir until smooth. Gently fold Nutella mixture back into the remaining whipped cream. Fold in the reserved hazelnuts. Scrape into prepared pie shell and smooth the top with spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 6 hours.