Lemon meringue pie with pine nut ice cream

Begin this lemon meringue pie recipe by making the tart. Start by pre-heating the oven to 160˚C/gas mark 3. Line the base of a cake tin with baking paper and brush the sides with butter. Take the sweet pastry and line the tin, ensuring it has the same thickness throughout, filling any gaps with excess dough. Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes

While the pastry is resting, make a start on the lemon tart mix. Mix the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and agar agar into a saucepan, slowly bring to a gentle boil, stirring continuously. When it reaches a boil, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter gradually

Blind bake at 160°C/gas mark 3 for 20 minutes or until golden brown, leave to cool. Once the pastry is cool, pour the curd mix to fill the mould just under the lip of the pastry shell. Leave in the fridge to set

Start the ice cream by combining the cream and milk together in a pan. Bring to the boil then take off the heat. Whisk the sugar and yolks until pale. Pour the warm cream mix slowly over the yolks while whisking to combine. Whisk in the pine nut purée and return the mix to the pan

Place back on a low to medium heat. Bring to 80°C while constantly stirring, being careful not to let the mix catch on the base of the pan. Strain, chill and pour into an ice cream machine and churn until you have reached the desired consistency. Place in the freezer to set

Preheat the oven to 150˚C/ gas mark 2

For the meringue, whisk the egg whites with a squeeze of lemon juice, until peaks begin to form. Start adding the icing sugar, one spoonful at a time and continue to whisk to form stiff peaks

Line 2 large baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment. Spoon half the meringue mixture into a piping bag with a small plain nozzle and pipe 30 1-2 cm meringues. With the remaining meringue mixture, use a palette knife and spread the mixture evenly over the second baking sheet to a 2-3 mm thickness. Place both trays into the oven and cook until completely dry and lift of the baking parchment easily. This should take about 45-60 minutes

Cut an even rectangle of the pie suitable for one serving. Spoon a small amount of the pine nut paste onto a round plate, spreading across the plate using a palette knife. Break off shards from the meringue and arrange around the purée. Stick the meringue into the pie and place on the edge of the paste

To finish the teardrop meringues, using a blow torch carefully caramelize the meringues. Arrange some toasted pine nuts and teardrop meringues around the plate. Finish with a quenelle of the ice cream and sprigs of lemon thyme