Rustic Pear Tart (or any other fruit!)
Submitted by glory on August 07, 2002 at 5:33 pm

I love these free-form pies because you can make one crust and a whole host of fillings. It is a great way to make a lot of pies without the need for pie pans, too. I have made these over and over again through the years.

Pear and raspberry, Apple and dried Montmorency cherries, peach and blackberry (my personal favorite), apple and dried cranberry, Peach and raspberry. Here is another addition: Moogs made nectarine and raspberry, mmm!

Almond flour is great in this instead of the almonds in the first step.
Prep and cook time: about 1 hour
Makes 8-10 servings

¼ cup water
¼ cup sliced almonds
about 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
about ½ cup sugar
about 7/8 cup (about ½ lb.) butter
1 ½ lb. Bosc pears

In a food processor, finely grind 1 TBSP almonds, 1 TBSP flour, and 2 tsp. Sugar. Pour into a small bowl.

In a food processor, combine 2 cups flour and ¼ cup sugar. Add ¾ cup butter, cut into small chunks. Whirl or rub with your fingers until fine crumbs form. Add ¼ cup water, whirl just until the dough holds together. Pat the dough into a flat disk.

On a lightly floured board, roll dough into a 15 inch wide round, about 1/8 inch thick. Slide onto a 14x17 inch baking sheet; press any tears back together.

Sprinkle almond mixture onto pastry, leaving about a 3 inch rim.

Peel, core, and cut pears into ¼ inch slices. Neatly overlap pear slices on pastry to cover almond mixture, leaving a 3inch rim. Lift rim up and lay over pears, folding neatly to incorporate excess pastry. Sprinkle 2 tsp. Sugar and remaining slivered almonds over pears.

Melt 1 TBSP butter and brush pastry rim with butter and sprinkle with 1 tsp sugar.

Bake on a center rack in a 400 degree oven until pastry is golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Slide tart onto a platter. Cut into wedges and serve hot warm or cool.

Per serv 355 calories 41 carbs

comments
Submitted by waterloom on Sat, 2013-09-14 13:20.
I have an abundance of pears and thought I would modify this recipe somewhat, using puff pastry and layering the pears over almond paste. What do you think?