I'm not a huge fan of desserts. If I had to pick between -say- a pizza and a piece of cake I'd go with the pizza, no doubt about that. Still, there a couple of sweets I really love. Gelato is one. My mom's pear and chocolate tart is the other. When I was in middle school my mom used to make it all the time. I would it half of it between the time I came home from school and the time I went to bed. Crazy, uh? Especially if you think that I was a scrawny, 80 pound kid. How could I do it? I'm not sure. But this tart is so good it's difficult to stop eating it once you start. Just try and see!
PEAR AND CHOCOLATE TART:
6 pears
1 whole clove
1 piece lemon rind
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
3 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
1/2 lemon
Peel and chop 6 pears and cook them in a saucepan with 1 tbsp butter, 1 whole clove and a piece of lemon rind (as big as the one you'd use for a martini). After 15 minutes they should be nice and soft. Remove from heat and let them cool off.
In the mean time, for the pastry shell: mix 1 1/2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 sticks of softened butter, 3 egg yolks, 1/2 teaspoon dry yest and grated rind of half a lemon. Knead until you have a heavy, smooth ball of dough. Take 1/3 of it and set aside.
Place a large square of parchment paper on your working surface, place biggest of the two doughs on it and roll out with a rolling pin. Lift parchment paper and place in a 11 inch pie dish. Pour pear mixture on the dough. Break a small dark chocolate bar into pieces and scatter over pear mixture. Take the little ball of dough and roll it out on a piece of parchment paper like you did with the first one. Gently slide the second "disc" of dough and use it as a lid over the pear mixture. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes or until it looks done.
Let cool and enjoy!
What a lovely dessert! I bet the pear and clove really highlight the flavor notes of the dark chocolate perfectly.
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