Ingredients
3/4 cup pecan halves, toasted
1 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Vegetable-oil nonstick cooking spray
Preparation
Process pecans in a food processor until finely ground. Beat together mascarpone and butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Add flour, pecans, and salt and beat just until dough comes together.
Divide dough into 40 balls (about 1 tablespoon each) and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Working in batches if necessary, lightly coat cups of mini muffin tins with cooking spray. Press balls into bottoms and up sides of cups and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pastry cups 15 minutes. Press down bottoms of cups with the end of a wooden spoon handle, then continue to bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Let cool completely before filling with curd.
