Pear and Blue Tart

Pear and Blue Tart
~Adapted this recipe from one provided to me by a customer who cut it out of a magazine several years ago.


Ingredients:
½ package of puffed pastry dough
250-300g of either Benedictin, Bresse, Cambozola or Fourme D’Ambert blue cheese (all are available at the shop of course!)
2 ripe pears (if you aren’t a pear lover try using your favourite apple!)
2 tbsp cornstarch


Preparation and cooking:
Thaw pastry as per directions on the package


Preheat oven to 475º F


Slice cheese into ¼” slices (Benedictin and Fourme D’Ambert will be the easiest to slice)


Core and peel pears and cut into thin wedges/slices


Place pears in a plastic bag, add corn starch, then close bag and shake until slices are

evenly covered.


Roll pastry into a circle approximately 12” wide


Lift and place into a 9” spring form pan.


Create pastry sides (about ½” high) by folding extra edging down toward pasty bottom.


Firmly press sides into spring form pan


Place ½ of the cheese slices over the bottom of the pastry. There won’t be enough cheese to cover the entire surface.


Cover the pastry with pears, some overlapping may be necessary.


Place remaining cheese slices on top.
(If you like you can prepare beforehand and refrigerate the tart up to three hours)


Reduce oven temperature to 375º F


Bake tart on bottom rack until cheese and pears are lightly browned. This should take 35-45 minutes.


When done remove and let stand for 15 minutes before slicing to prevent cheese from oozing out.


Slice into bite size pieces and serve!




Pairings:
I would suggest serving a nice Prosseco .… what a great starter or main course!