blueberry-basil ice cream tart with intensely chocolate crust

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but convenience is a close second.

I've come up with some pretty weird combinations but I think this may be up there near the top. It arose from a huge batch of basil wilting in my fridge and a ginormous amount of blueberries in our house (one of those, I thought we needed them and my husband thought we needed them and then we  were at Costco and bought some there as well, and you might say, Never can have too many blueberries, but there are limits.).

Did you know it is not only National Blueberry Month but it is also National Ice Cream Month? What are the odds?

So there we were, too many blueberries, a lot of basil and this exhausting heat wave. Some ice cream was in order.

I made Mark Bittman's tofu ice cream, substituting blueberries and basil for chocolate. My husband said it tasted "too green." But once it was frozen on top of the chocolate crust, it was heaven. And I owe it all to the wonderful chocolate crust. I was not sure it would work as one since the recipe is for cookies, but it did work... wonderfully. Thanks again to Deb at Smitten Kitchen.

(My tart is not gorgeous because I used a flan pan instead of a tart pan... ooops)

Blueberry-Basil Tofu Ice Cream
Adapted from Mark Bittman's Chocolate Tofu Ice Cream.

12 oz tofu (silken is better but I used firm)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
10 leaves basil
1 cup blueberries

1. Heat sugar, water, blueberries and basil in a sauce pan until sugar has dissolved and berries and basil have softened. Let sit to cool. Remove basil.

2. If you have an ice cream maker by all means use it. I do not so this is instructions for someone without one. In a food processor, mix tofu and rest of ingredients until smooth. Place in a freezer safe pan. Freeze for 40 minutes. Take out and mix up to remove ice crystals. Keep doing this every 30 minutes until it is hard but still soft enough to spread.

3. Spread mixture onto already prepared tart crust. Freeze.

Intensely Chocolate Tart Crust
Adapted from Deb's Intensely Chocolate Sables at Smitten Kitchen

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegan butter (mine is salted so I skip the salt in the recipe. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt if your is not)
1/2 cup sugar
1 splash vanilla
3 1/2 ounces 70% chocolate (not sure if that is bittersweet or semi-sweet), grated (I used my food processor)

1. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda in a bowl.

2. Cream butter, sugar, and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add dry ingredients. Press into a tart pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Set aside for the ice cream.