Caramelized Pear And Roquefort Tart
- 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 13 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 egg yolk, beaten with 4 teaspoons of water
- 4 teaspoons water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 7 to 8 medium-size firm pears, peeled, halved and cored
- 3 ounces Roquefort cheese
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 cups port
- To make the crust, put the walnuts in a food processor and pulse until ground.
- Add the flour, sugar and salt and pulse just to combine.
- Add the butter and pulse until most of the butter is incorporated into the flour.
- Add the yolk mixture and pulse until the dough begins to come together.
- Gather the dough into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic.
- Chill.
- To make the filling, melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add half the pears to the skillet and saute until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes.
- Remove the pears from the skillet and repeat with the remaining pears.
- Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Roll out the dough between large sheets of plastic wrap and fit it into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
- Cover with parchment paper or aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the paper and weights and bake the crust until it is golden, about 7 minutes more.
- Arrange the pear halves in a circle over the dough, core side down and wider end toward the edge of the pan.
- Fill in the center with more pears.
- Crumble the cheese over and around the pears.
- Whisk together the half-and- half, sugar, egg yolks and flour.
- Pour over the pears.
- Bake until the custard is set, about 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, simmer the port in a small saucepan until it is reduced to a syrup.
- While the tart is still warm and just before serving, brush the port over the pears.
- Cut into wedges and serve.
walnuts, flour, sugar, kosher salt, cold unsalted butter, egg yolk, water, unsalted butter, cheese, sugar, egg yolks, flour, port
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1091 (may not work)