Pear Tart

I have been on quite the pear kick lately- 'tis the season I guess- so I decided on a pear dessert for Sunday dinner. I absolutely love pear and apple crumbles in the fall so that was my first idea. I thought I remembered a recipe from one in one of my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks but while flipping through the latest "Back to Basics" book, I bumped into Ina's French Apple Tart Recipe and decided to run with that instead. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/french-apple-tart-recipe/index.html Not up for making my own pastry, I used one sheet of frozen puff pastry for the crust. I rolled it out to 10 x 12 inches or so as Ina suggested, transferred it to a cookie sheet lined with parchment and put it back in the fridge while I did the pears. I used red bartlett pears that I got from Whole Foods, they are SUPER sweet and seem to maintain a nice firm texture- yet they are still juicier that the bosc variety. I peeled three of them, removed the center core with a melon baller and the stem at either end with a paring knife. I set them flat side down on the cutting board and sliced them fairly thinly (about 1/4 inch). I squeezed a bit of lemon over them in hopes they wouldn't start to brown while I was arranging them over the pastry.

I arranged them like so, sprinkled generously with sugar and a VERY light dusting of cinnamon and nutmeg, and then put into the oven preheated to 400 degrees. I baked the tart for 45-50 minutes, checking often to ensure it was getting brown but not burnt.

When done, I let cool for a minute on the pan. I then transferred the whole tart from the baking sheet to a rack to cool the rest of the way. I made the apricot glaze in the meantime- substituting Grand Marnier for the Calvados liquor. I brushed it over generously with a pastry brush and that was that! Very simple, very tasty, elegant presentation.