Caramelized Pear And Roquefort Tart Food

PEAR AND ROQUEFORT TART

Steps:

• To make the pastry, put the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl, then add the chilled butter and rub in, using your fingers, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg yolk, then gradually add just enough chilled water to bring the mixture together into a firm dough - don't add too much water or the dough may become sticky. (Alternatively, whizz the flour, salt and butter in a food processor until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the egg yolk and the water. Pulse to bring the dough together.)
• Roll out the dough into a circle on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin, then loosely roll the pastry around the rolling pin. Unroll it over a lightly greased 23cm fluted tart tin with a removable base, then gently push the pastry into the tin using a little ball of floured pastry to help you ease it into the tin's edges and flutes. Roll the rolling pin over the top to trim the edges. Prick the base all over with a fork, line the case with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Chill for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Blind bake (see our how to video below) the pastry case for 20 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for 10 minutes more until the pastry begins to turn golden. Remove from the oven, brush the pastry with beaten egg yolk (see tips), then return to the oven for 5 minutes.
• Arrange the pears in neat circles to cover the base of the case. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the pears begin to soften. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the lardons until golden, then set aside. Turn down the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4.
• Put the mascarpone in a bowl and stir briefly to soften, then add the beaten eggs and milk. Stir until smooth and combined. Season with a little salt and lots of black pepper (the bacon and roquefort are salty), then stir in the chopped thyme.
• Scatter the cooked lardons and the roquefort over the softened pears, then pour over the mascarpone mix. Sprinkle over some small thyme sprigs and bake for 25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden. Once cooked, leave to cool in its tin before removing.
• Serve at room temperature with lightly dressed salad leaves.

CARAMELIZED PEAR TART

Steps:

• In a sauté pan on medium, melt unsalted butter; stir in 2 Tablespoons of the sugar.
• Simmer, stirring occasionally, until butter and sugar begin to turn golden brown and caramelize.
• Add pear slices and cook slowly over low heat to tenderize and caramelize, stirring gently occasionally. Watch carefully to prevent burning.
• Arrange caramelized pears in short crust pie shell.
• Mix together eggs with the remaining sugar, cream, ground almonds and pear brandy, if using.
• Pour mixture over pears.
• Preheat oven to 410 degrees Fahrenheit (205 degree Celsius) .
• Bake for about 25 minutes.
• Rest for three to five minutes before serving.
• Serve with rich custard or vanilla ice cream.

STICKY PEAR TARTS WITH ROQUEFORT CREAM

Steps:

• Unravel the pastry and cut out two 15cm diameter circles using a saucer or small plate as a guide. Put them on a tray and prick all over with a fork. Peel, core and halve the pears lengthways. Finely slice each half and arrange in a neat overlapping circle in the middle of the pastry, leaving a 2cm border. Roll up and crimp the edges of the pastry to tuck the pears neatly into the tart. Can be prepared up to 1 day ahead and kept in the fridge; if the pears brown a little, it won't show.
• To make the cream, whisk the cream and honey together to form soft peaks, add the cheese and continue to whisk. Scrape into a small container and chill until needed. Can be made 1 day ahead.
• Put a baking tray in the oven and heat to 200C/180C/gas 6. For the glaze, put the sugar in a pan over a medium heat until it melts and caramelises. Pour this over the pears, then put the tarts on the hot baking tray and cook for 15 mins until they're puffed up and golden. Lift the tarts onto warmed plates and serve with a spoonful of the Roquefort cream so it melts on top.

PEAR TARTE TATIN

Steps:

• Remove refrigerated pie crust from package, and follow manufacturer's suggestions for unrolling crust. Set aside.
• Combine nutmeg, ginger, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl.
• Peel, quarter, and core 4 pears. Slice each quarter into 3 slices, from core end to bottom, and place in a large bowl. Cut remaining pear in half; peel, and core one half and add to the bowl. Peel, core, and slice the other half as directed above and add to the bowl. Drizzle pears with bourbon and sprinkle with spice-sugar mix, tossing to evenly coat.
• Melt butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add 2/3 cup white sugar and salt to the melted butter, stirring to combine until mixture bubbles, 2 to 3 minutes. Place the single pear half in the center of the skillet. Fan remaining pear slices around the center, core end to the outside of the skillet and stem end toward the center. If possible, turn the pieces in the same direction. Keep adding pear slices, filling in any gaps, until they are all in the skillet.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, undisturbed, until pears are fork-tender and color develops to the liquid, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place a baking sheet on a rack in the lower third of the oven.
• Remove skillet from heat and place unbaked pie shell on top of the fruit, using a fork to tuck the edges of the pie shell toward the bottom of the skillet. Place skillet on the prepared baking sheet in the preheated oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake until crust is brown, 28 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Place a heat-safe plate, larger than the skillet, upside down over the crust.
• Use oven mitts to grab the plate and skillet together and quickly flip the skillet contents onto the plate; this move is tricky and requires some forearm strength and dexterity. After the flip, if the contents are not centered on the plate, use a spatula to gently move to the center. Add any fruit that remained in the skillet, and drizzle any remaining liquid over the top of the tarte tatin.
• Allow to sit 15-20 minutes, then serve warm.

CARAMELIZED PEAR AND ROQUEFORT TART

Steps:

• To make the crust, put the walnuts in a food processor and pulse until ground. Add the flour, sugar and salt and pulse just to combine. Add the butter and pulse until most of the butter is incorporated into the flour. Add the yolk mixture and pulse until the dough begins to come together. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic. Chill.
• To make the filling, melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the pears to the skillet and saute until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Remove the pears from the skillet and repeat with the remaining pears. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough between large sheets of plastic wrap and fit it into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Cover with parchment paper or aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and weights and bake the crust until it is golden, about 7 minutes more.
• Arrange the pear halves in a circle over the dough, core side down and wider end toward the edge of the pan. Fill in the center with more pears. Crumble the cheese over and around the pears.
• Whisk together the half-and- half, sugar, egg yolks and flour. Pour over the pears. Bake until the custard is set, about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, simmer the port in a small saucepan until it is reduced to a syrup. While the tart is still warm and just before serving, brush the port over the pears. Cut into wedges and serve.

CARAMELIZED PEAR TART

Steps:

• Lightly grease a 9-inch tart pan with removeable sides.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt and pulse briefly to mix.
• Add the shortening and cut it into the flour mixture using quick on/off pulses until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg and the vanilla and process just until moist clumps form, pulsing the processor on and off.
• Gather the dough into a ball and using your fingertips, press evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the preapred tart pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Halve each pear lengthwise and scoop out the core with a melon baller or spoon. Peel and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. There should be about 5 cups.
• Melt the butter over medium heat in a large non-stick skillet and stir in the brown sugar. When the sugar has dissolved and is bubbly, add the pears to the skillet sprinkling them with lemon juice and let the pears cook in the sugar syrup, stirring gently so as not to break up the slices. The pears will, at first, release quite a bit of juice - allow this to simmer until the liquid reduces to a thick syrup and the pears have begun to caramelize. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425°F Gently spoon the pears into the prepared tart shell, spreading them out evenly. Sprnikle with the sliced almonds. Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F and continue baking for 25-30 minutes, until the almonds are toasted and pear filling is bubbly.
• Let cool before removing the sides of the tart pan to serve.