PEAR CROUSTADE WITH HAZELNUT-BROWN SUGAR TOPPING

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Pear Croustade with Hazelnut-Brown Sugar Topping image

A rustic tart with a delicious hazelnut crust, sweet filling and buttery topping.

Yield Makes 6 to 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 16

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked
5 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Pinch of salt
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup bread flour
1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, husked
3 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons (about) ice water
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, quartered, cored, thinly sliced
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Vanilla ice cream

Steps:

  • Blend all ingredients in processor until clumps form, about 1 minute. Transfer to medium bowl. Cover and chill. (Do not clean processor bowl.)
  • Combine both flours, hazelnuts, sugar and salt in same processor bowl. Blend until hazelnuts are finely chopped. Add butter and blend until coarse meal forms. Mix in 2 tablespoons ice water and process just until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap dough in plastic and chill 30 minutes. (Topping and dough can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)
  • Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 13-inch round, lifting paper, smoothing wrinkles and turning over as needed. Transfer dough on parchment paper to large unrimmed baking sheet. Remove top sheet of parchment.
  • Combine pears, sugar and flour in large bowl; toss to coat.
  • Mound pear mixture atop dough, leaving 2-inch border. Using parchment paper as aid, fold dough border over pears, pleating loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in dough. Sprinkle topping thickly over pears.
  • Bake croustade until crust is golden, about 40 minutes. Cover very loosely with foil to prevent crust from over-browning and continue to bake until juices bubble thickly, about 12 minutes longer. Transfer baking sheet to rack; cool slightly. Slide metal spatula under crust to free from parchment. Using large tart pan bottom as aid, transfer croustade to platter. Serve warm with ice cream.

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