Pear And Roquefort Tart. New Music From Josh Warren.

I didn’t want to believe that my husband, a road worker, was stealing things from his job. But when I got home, all the signs were there.

Sorry. Looks like I am really scraping the bottom of the joke barrel!

I’ll make up for it with a nifty tart.

Pears and Roquefort are a perfect match. Throw in some bacon and bake it up in a mascarpone based custard and you have one delicious dish.

I found the pastry a bit crumbly to work with given the amount of flour. For an easier but less rustic crust, this one is a winner.

Pear And Roquefort Tart

Ingredients:

Pastry Crust (recipe follows)
3 ripe pears, quartered and cored
2 tsp olive oil
100g smoked bacon, chopped
150g mascarpone
2 eggs, beaten
50ml whole milk
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme, plus extra sprigs to garnish
150g Roquefort cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F.

2. Blind bake the pastry case for 20 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for 10 minutes more until the pastry begins to turn golden. Remove from the oven, brush the pastry with beaten egg yolk, then return to the oven for 5 minutes.

3. Arrange the pears in neat circles to cover the bottom of the pastry. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the pears begin to soften.

4. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the bacon until golden, then set aside.

5. Decrease oven to 180°C/350°F.

6. Beat the mascarpone with the eggs and milk until smooth and combined. Season with black pepper then stir in the chopped thyme.

7. Scatter the bacon and the Roquefort over the softened pears then pour over the mascarpone mixture. Sprinkle with a few small thyme sprigs.

8. Bake for 25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden. Once cooked, leave to cool in tin before removing.

9. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8

Pastry Crust

Ingredients:

225g (1 3/4 cups) flour, plus extra for dusting
110g chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus extra for greasing
1 egg yolk, plus an extra yolk, beaten, to seal
2-3 tbsp chilled water

Directions:

1. Put the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add butter and rub in, using your fingers, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg yolk, then gradually add just enough chilled water to bring the mixture together into a firm dough (Alternatively, pulse the flour, salt and butter in a food processor until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the egg yolk and the water. Pulse to bring the dough together.)

2. Roll out the dough into a circle on a lightly floured surface. Loosely roll the pastry around the rolling pin. Unroll it over a lightly greased 23cm/9 inch fluted tart tin with a removable base. Press the pastry into the tin. Roll the rolling pin over the top to trim the edges. Prick the base all over with a fork, line the case with baking paper and fill with baking beans or beads. Chill for 30 minutes.

Recipes from Delicious Magazine