PEAR TART
Serves: 4• 1 batch piecrust (see below)
• 3 Bosc pears (or similar)
• Flour, for dusting
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• Orange zest
• Freshly ground black pepper (optional)1 Wrap the prepared piecrust dough in
plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the
refrigerator for at least an hour. Preheat the
oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4, 350°F).2 When ready to bake, cut the pears in half
lengthwise without peeling them, core
them, then cut them into very thin slices.
It will be easier if you place the pear halves
flat on a work surface and firmly hold the
two sides between your thumb and index
finger, so that the slices stay intact while
they are being cut.3 Roll out the piecrust on a floured work
surface and place in a rectangular tart mold
(the one I used was 14-by-4 inches, with a
removable bottom), then pinch the edges
of the dough with your fingers to create a
kind of decoration and pierce the bottom
with the tines of a fork.4 Arrange the pear slices on the pastry,
laying them down so that they overlap
slightly, almost forming a fan shape.5 Sprinkle with brown sugar and a bit of
orange zest. Finish off with a sprinkling of
pepper (if you like the taste) and bake until
the pears take on a pretty caramelized
color. This should take around 35 minutes.6 Sometimes, I replace ½ cup of the flour
for the piecrust with the same amount of
finely ground almonds.For the piecrust
Makes: 19 inch piecrust• 320g (2 ²⁄₃ cups) cake flour, plus more
for dusting
• Pinch salt
• 65g (⅓ cup) sugar
• 165g (¾ cup) cold vegan sunflower oil
butter
• 2-4 tsp ice water or chilled soy milk1 Sift the flour together with the salt onto a
work surface and mix in the sugar. Place the
cold butter in the center and mix it into the
flour mixture, kneading with your fingertips,
using quick movements so that it doesn’t
get too warm, until you have a mixture that
resembles bread crumbs.2 Mix in as much ice water as needed to
bring the mixture together into a dough.
Form into a ball and refrigerate it, wrapped
in plastic wrap, for at least an hour. After
an hour, you can roll it out with a lightly
floured rolling pin for use, or it can be
frozen. To get a savory crust, just leave out
the sugar.Per 100g
Calories 333, Fat 15g, Saturates 2.8g,
Carbohydrates 44g, Sugars 14g, Protein 4.2g,
Salt 0.50g- Recipes and images from Vegano Italiano by Rosalba
Gioffré, £20.00, published by Countryman Press, an
imprint of W.W. Norton & Company Ltd.
Delicious Desserts