-PASTRY-
1 1/2 c Unbleached flour
2 tb Sugar
1 pn Salt
1 pn Ground cloves
1/2 ts Grated lemon peel
1/4 lb Butter
1 Egg yolk
5 tb Ice water
Butter; softened
-GLAZE-
1/2 c Apricot preserves
2 tb Dark rum
FILLING
1/2 c Finely ground almonds
1/2 c Sugar
1 tb Flour
9 Firm, ripe pears
— (preferably Anjou)
— peeled, halved lengthwise
— and cored
To make pastry, put dry ingredients and lemon peel in bowl of food
processor fitted with metal chopping blade; process just to mix. Add
butter and cut into small pieces; process just until mixture
resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk; process just until blended.
With processor running, quickly add ice water. Process several
seconds until pastry forms ball. Stop at once to avoid overmixing.
Wrap ball in plastic wrap; chill at least one hour. Butter a 10-inch
quiche pan with a removable bottom. Roll pastry out slightly larger
than pan. Carefully lift pastry to pan and gently press against
bottom and sides. Trim edges; prick bottom and sides with fork. Chill
for 1/2 hour. Line pastry-filled pan with a circle of foil, pressing
it gently against pastry. Fill liner with uncooked rice or dried
beans to weight. Bake in preheated 375 degree F oven 15 minutes. Lift
out liner with rice or beans (save for future pastry baking). Bake
crust 5 minutes longer; cool on rack. To make glaze, heat preserves
and rum over low heat, stirring. Strain, brush tart shell with 2
tablespoons glaze. Reserve remainder. To make filling, stir together
almonds, sugar, and flour; sprinkle over glazed shell. Slice 12 pear
halves crosswise. (Do not separate the slices. -KM) Place sliced
halves in circle over almond mixture in shell. Chop remaining pear
halves, use to fill spaces between sliced pears. Bake in preheated
375 degree F oven 40 minutes. Remove from oven, brush with remaining
warm glaze. Serve at room temperature.
Yields
1 10″ tart