Maltese Walnut And Dates Pie Recipes

DATE NUT COOKIE PIES

Steps:

• To prepare the pastry, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of the cream and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Add more cream if necessary but stop before the dough is too wet. Tip half of the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form it into a disk. Repeat with the remaining dough. Chill the disks for at least 2 hours.
• To prepare the filling, bring the dates and the water to a simmer over medium heat in a small saucepan. Cook until the dates are very soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer the dates and the water to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and add the pecans, walnuts, honey, orange zest, cardamom, cloves, and salt and pulse until you have a chunky paste. Let cool completely.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/8 inch on a very lightly floured surface. (Less flour means a more tender cookie.) Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and set them about 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining disk. You can reroll the dough once if you like.
• Scoop about a rounded 1/2 teaspoon of filling onto half of the dough circles. Brush the edges of the filling-topped circles with a bit of cream and top with another dough circle, gently pressing the edges to seal. Once you've sandwiched all of the cookies, use a fork to crimp all of the edges.
• Chill the cookies until firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Brush the top of each cookie with cream and sprinkle with a bit of sanding sugar. Bake until the cookies are golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Let the cookies cool completely on a rack.
• Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

WALNUT-DATE PUMPKIN PIE

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine the flour, butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Cover and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-in. pie plate. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes; cool on a wire rack., In a bowl, beat the eggs, cinnamon, cloves and remaining brown sugar. Beat in the pumpkin and milk. Stir in the dates and walnuts. Pour into the crust. Cover edges loosely with foil., Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 2 hours on a wire rack. Refrigerate until serving. Serve with whipped cream. Refrigerate leftovers.

WALNUT DATE BALLS

Steps:

• Process walnuts, dates, coconut, sesame oil, sea salt, and vanilla extract together in a food processor until combined. Roll date mixture into bite-size balls; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

WALNUT MOLASSES PIE

Steps:

• In a bowl, whisk the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter, molasses and vanilla until blended; stir in walnuts. Pour into pastry shell. Cover edges with foil., Bake at 350° for 25 minutes; remove foil. Bake 12-17 minutes longer or until top of pie is et and crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before cutting.

BRANDIED DATE AND WALNUT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold edge under; crimp. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze 10 minutes. Line with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights.
• Bake crust until sides are set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until bottom begins to color, piercing with toothpick if crust bubbles, about 10 minutes longer. Cool on rack 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir dates and brandy in small bowl to blend. Mix brown sugar, butter, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl until paste forms. Whisk in corn syrup, then 3 eggs. Add nuts and date mixture. Beat 1 egg to blend in small bowl for glaze.
• Brush inside of crust with some of glaze. Pour filling into crust. Bake 15 minutes. Cover edges of crust with foil. Continue to bake pie until filling is puffed and set in center, about 20 minutes. Transfer pie to rack; cool. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
• Serve pie with whipped cream.

TORTA TAL-LAMPUKI (MALTESE FISH PIE)

Steps:

• Make shortcrust pastry - place flour, shortening and salt in the food processor. Pulse until the mixture is grainy and particles are the size of peas or less. With the processor running, slowly add enough water until the pastry comes together in a ball. You may not need all of the water. Remove from the bowl and divide in two discs. Refrigerate while you make the rest of the recipe.
• Season the fish with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Heat the olive oil in large skillet. Pan fry the filets until brown but not overcooked. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
• Add the sliced onion and saute until tender, adding more olive oil if necessary. Add the tomato, spinach and cauliflower florets. Saute for 2 minutes more. Add salt and pepper to taste, add a cup of water and cover. Simmer until the cauliflower florets are fork tender. Add the olives.
• Roll out one of the pastry discs and line the bottom of a large pie pan with it. Place half of the vegetable mixture in the pie. Place the fish filets on top of the vegetables and cover them with the remaining half of the vegetables. Roll out the other pastry disc and place it on top of the fish and vegetables layers.
• Place on the middle rack of the oven, preheated to 350°F Bake for 30 min or until the crust is golden brown.