October has firmly landed with brisk, blustery breezes and fruit ripening on trees all over this fine valley. The pears are starting to look tantalizing, though all i’ve tasted are still nasty tart. I thought i’d post this decadent recipe in time for folks thinking what to do with all those pears when they finally are ready. I made this recipe last fall, pre nicer camera, but i think you’ll get the jist. Basically, if you “pear” fresh goat cheese with caremelized onions and fresh fruit and homemade crust: you’ve got a big plate of delicious!
My step-mama gifted us some of the pears from her tree in Eugene, and it took me ages to use them in anything. I’m really not much of a pear eater, though i do like them in a salad or dehydrated. I thought up this recipe totally randomly after having the pears in a savory cold salad – why not heat them up in a savory fashion? I paired the pears (tee hee) with my Mom’s rockin pie crust recipe and came up with something truly decadent and delicious. I’m glad i wrote it down, because this is a truly knock their socks off party treat. And I think it probably should be eaten that way – in much smaller portions. A half a plate full of pie crust left me feeling really gross and sad that I’d wasted the day’s 3 hour hike on one meal.
Gross feelings aside, my husband was fist pumping all over the place and the kale chips complimented the crispy pie crust perfectly. It was a glorious meal…. but maybe better served as individual bites next time, or at least as more of a side dish to something more healthy.
First, the crust:
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 Cups shortening or lard
- 5-6 Tablespoons cold water
You can halve this recipe, as i did or make the whole thing to fill a cookie sheet. The recipe is for pie crust, so the full recipe is for a top and bottom of a pie. I halved but kept the salt at the full 1 teaspoon and also added some dried basil and ground pepper.
For the topping:
- 2 small onions, one red one white, halved and sliced
- 3 Serrano peppers, sliced
- Garlic
- 2 pears, sliced
- Herbed goat cheese
- Ground sage, rosemary, salt and pepper
- Sauteed sausage for some extra yum
Mix up the pie crust with two knives or a pastry cutter. Don’t over work that gluten! Get the texture to the point of ‘not too crumbly’ then squish together with your hands and roll out. I rolled directly onto a cookie sheet and it worked great. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare the veg/fruit and sautee the onions, peppers and garlic with the herbs until onions are soft. I used a nonstick pan with lid, no oil. It’s okay if you get some charry spots. More to yum! Scatter the veggies evenly over the pie crust. Slice the pears and saute on just one side until getting soft through. Arrange pears evenly over other veg. Dollup some goat’s cheese on top of the pears. Salt well.
Bake at 400 for about half an hour, more or less to the point of ‘just browning.’ This will result in a nice, flakey crust that is pick upable and not soggy. Don’t let it get too brown or it won’t taste as nice. I served ours with some kale chips tossed in coconut oil, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast and lots of salt. I think we may eat too much salt. haha. If you want some sausage on there, i recommend sauteeing it while the tart is baking and placing it on top just before serving.
Pretty delicious looking, right? It smelled great, too. Mmmmm, now i guess i’d better get some exercise. Sigh.
What’s your favorite pear recipe? Sweet or savory?
