A Grain-Free, No-Bake Lemon Tart
No matter how homesick I may get for the east coast from time to time, there’s absolutely nothing I love more than walking into my backyard on a sunny afternoon and picking a bunch of lemons from our tree. I usually slice them up to pop into ice water or hot tea or the occasional Diet Coke, but I’ve always wanted to try out an actual lemon “recipe” with our abundance of citrus.
Last year I made some super salty preserved lemons, but this time I thought it’d be fun to try my hand at a big fresh lemon tart to celebrate that spring is only a week away. I originally wanted to make this a low-carb or at least Paleo dessert, but I ended up using regular sugar for the lemon curd because it’s what I had and honestly, it’s what I wanted. If you use low-carb sugar alternatives, I’m sure you could substitute the sugar for something else, but I did make the crust grain-free, sugar-free, and with only a few ingredients!
Grain-Free, No-Bake Lemon Tart
Ingredients:
For the crust:
3 cups of nuts (I used almonds and a bit of pecans)
1 cup of melted coconut oil
A pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling (from Ina Garten’s lemon curd recipe):
3 large lemons
1 1/2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
4 ounces of butter, room temperature
Instructions:
To make the crust, pulse nuts in a food processor until finely crushed (stop before you turn it into nut butter—you want it to be the texture of rough sand). Transfer from food processor into a bowl.
Pour melted coconut oil over nut mixture and stir well to incorporate. Add salt and vanilla and mix together. Transfer to a pie dish and press gently with your fingers to create a crust. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest of the lemons. Transfer zest to food processor and pulse together with sugar until well combined. Cream butter in a separate bowl and add the sugar and lemon mixture to it. Mix well to combine and add eggs one at a time as you continue to stir. Slowly add lemon juice and mix until smooth.
Transfer everything to a pot on the stove and cook over medium-low heat until curd begins to thicken—about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely (you can make the curd a day or two ahead of time if you want).
Pour the filling into the pie and transfer to freezer. Remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving.
Happy belated pi day and early spring wishes! Is there anything more cheerful than a bright yellow lemon pie?