Chocolate Hazlenut Tart

to make the toasted hazelnuts

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Spread the raw, whole hazelnuts out on a baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, tossing once or twice during baking to prevent burning. The hazelnuts should be fragrant and starting to turn a light toasty brown. Remove and set aside to cool.

to make the crust

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a food processor, blend the cookies until very finely ground. Remove to a medium sized mixing bowl and drizzle the melted butter over the cookie crumbs.
3. Mix until evenly combined. Transfer the crumb mixture to your tart pan, and press the crumbs into the pan to form a crust. Using the bottom of a cup measure can help flatten things out. Press the crumbs up the side of the tart pan as well too, about an inch high (this may not reach the top of your tart pan depending on its height)
4. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool while you make the ganache filling.

to make the ganache filling

1. Add almost all of the hazelnuts to the bowl of a food processor (I reserved a handful of whole toasted nuts to decorate the top of the tart) and pulse/process until finely ground but retaining a little bit of texture. Set aside.
2. Add the heavy cream to a small, heavy bottomed saucepan and place on the stove over medium heat. Heat the cream until it is almost at a boil, but not quite. You should see small bubbles forming at the sides of the pan and steam rising from the cream.
3. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate chips to the hot cream. Let the cream and chocolate chips sit for a few minutes to melt.
4. Gently stir the chocolate chips into the warm cream until the mixture starts to become smooth, shiny, and even. Add the vanilla extract, along with 1 1/2 cups of the ground hazelnuts, and mix well to get everything thoroughly combined.
5. Pour the ganache mixture into your tart shell. Use the remaining ground hazelnuts, reserved whole nuts, and flaky sea salt to decorate the edge of the tart.
6. Carefully place the tart in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
7. The tart will last several days in the refrigerator. It can be frozen for longer storage.