Poached pear and almond tart

[lizerdbits]

I made this Sunday and it was incredible. 11 inch tart pan devoured in minutes! Virtually no leftovers! :( You can make the crust, pears, and almond filling a couple days before and assemble and bake when needed. It was just so damn good I wanted to share. I don't know if you can access the recipe without a subscription but here it is.

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=462

[flamin lib]

1. Ummmm, make ahead! Now if I can find a piecrust that sounds

as sweet as the tart recipe and substitute canned pears for the poached this looks like a shoe-in for "the book".

[lizerdbits]

2. The flavor they get from poaching with these ingredients

isn't likely to happen with canned but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. If you poach canned they'll turn to mush and omitting the poach the flavor I think would be lacking.

[flamin lib]

4. I tried the amateur version last night and it works! Obviously not

the same as the original but very good and awfully pretty to look at.

Bought pie crust at the frozen food section. Sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon on both sides and baked it as per instructions. The almond filling I did as per the recipe. The canned pears weren't as large as you'd have if you poached your own so I had to use two cans which gave some leftovers for another desert.

Total prep time was maybe 20 minutes and baking time 50-55. For good measure garnished with whipped cream and fresh mint.

I've poached pears in red wine and served them sliced vertically and fanned out. They're beautiful with the dark red fading toward the center. I'm thinking about doing the tart filling and putting the red poached pears on after it cools.

[housewolf]

3. That looks scrumptous...

but gosh, no leftovers? Now that's a sad thing!

I'll bet your family/guests were happy, though!