Rustic Pear Tart

I had four pears sitting on my counter due to a coupon and a great sale. I knew I wasn't going to be able to eat them all before they got overripe, so the Rustic Pear Tart was born. I used Martha Stewart's recipe for the pastry dough, it is my go to and never lets me down. The key is overflouring your board when you roll out the dough, it really makes it easier to work with. A tip for peeling the pears is to blanche them for 15 seconds or so, the skin peels right off after. I learned this trick when I made Miss F's baby food and it works great on other fruits too, like peaches, plums and nectarines. This tart came together very quickly, within an hour and a half we were eating warm pear tart with vanilla ice cream. I may make one with apples for Thanksgiving, since it was so easy.

Rustic Pear Tart

1 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

4 pears, peeled, cored and sliced
juice from one lemon
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1 tablespoon cream
1 teaspoon sugar

Add the flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of the food processor. Process for 15 seconds. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Pulse for 30 seconds, until the mixture is pea sized crumbles form. Stream the water through the feed tube and add until the dough comes together. Transfer to a plastic bag and refrigerate for an hour.

Toss the pear slices with the lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to coat.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the pastry dough into a 10" circle and transfer to a Silpat lined baking sheet. Pour the pear mixture into the center of the dough round and carefully turn the edges up over the pear mixture, working around in a circle until all edges are folded over the pears. Brush the folded over edges with cream, then sprinkle with the teaspoon of sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

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