For convenience you can
always use frozen tart shells and canned pears. But when I made the Almond PearTart there were pastry scraps and poached pears left over... those were the makings of my kind of convenience ingredients. The pears
were poached in water and for people who have to live on a strict sugar free
diet; I thought pie pastry with pears poached in water would be quite
wonderful. But for the rest of us, pears poached in sugar syrup would be even
better. The tartlets were so inviting, my love ate them up before he even looked
at the Almond Pear Tart...
PEAR TARTLETS
leftover pie pastry or 12 frozen tart shells
6 ripe, but firm to the touch small to medium
sized pears
2 cups water
1/8 cup sugar
1/8 cup sugar
- Wash, peel, cut in half and core the pears.
- Add the water to a large skillet.
- Stir in the sugar and bring it to simmer.
- Slide the pears into the simmering water.
- Blanch the pears for 5-10 minutes, or until almost tender when pierced with a fork. They will continue to soften as they cool.
- If the pears are somewhat unripe, blanching could take longer. Do not use overripe pears that are already soft to the touch.
- Scoop the poached pears out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a paper towel lined tray to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Make the pastry and roll out 12 large pastry circles to fit your muffin tins.
- Press the pastry into the muffin tins.
- Slice into the pear halves without cutting through.
- Carefully place the pear halves inside the pastry.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the pastry is lightly browned.
