Pear and Cheddar Tart Recipe

Every once in a while, I make a pie on the fly based on what I have in my pantry, fridge, and freezer. Pear and Cheddar Tart is one of those pies.

It doesn’t really matter what the pie fillings are anyway. Eating pie or food for that matter is primarily two things—flavor and texture. Aside from culture that is, but that is another story. For instance, if you pinch your nostrils closed and shut your eyes, you probably couldn’t tell the difference between an apple and a pear. Or a raw carrot from a potato.

So the texture is really the more important criteria.

Now I don’t know this scientifically, but what I do know is that we love to eat crunchy, creamy, chewy foods. And while the flavor is important also, an experienced cook can improvise in the kitchen with ingredients already available in the freezer, pantry, and fridge to get the best textures and flavors possible.

So two weeks back, I bought a basket of unripe Magnum pears from farmers, Chris and Elizabeth of Twin Maples Organics. Even though I planned to travel to California within ten days for the coveted annual 2016 Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Foods Institute where all things food and oceans are analyzed, dissected and chewed on like a herd of cows with a mouthful of hay on a sunny summer day, I had to have those pears. I knew they would ripen on the counter and while I waited I would also enjoy a beautiful fruit arrangement. Those pears were destined for poaching and canning. Winter is on its way.

A week passed. No signs of softening or color change.

Another week began and a few pears started to turn a pale shade of yellow with the tiniest hint of cherry red.

Chris had mentioned this Magnum pear was a new species for them and that he had eaten a pear the previous night, although he admitted it could have ripened a bit more.

Anyway, I began to pack for California. Pre-flight packing involves cleaning out the fridge and preparing meals for Elvis.

I tossed wilted herbs, half a cup of black beans, a cut lime browned and dried, and an artichoke bruschetta with an expiration date not fit for a compost bin. And thought about food waste. It hurt to trash food. I knew what a problem food waste is in our world. But it would only get worse when I returned because Elvis doesn’t cook.

As I went from the fridge to the garbage, I glanced at the pears on the counter. I hoped they wouldn’t become over ripe. I turned them lovingly as if the action of handling the firm somewhat rough surface would protect them. Would magically slow the ripening process for that exact moment when I returned. Which really has nothing to do with my actions and all about Mother Nature. She works on her own internal clock and fruit will ripen when it is damn well ready as you know.

Anyway, once I returned home after five days in California, I only concerned myself with what we would eat after a long travel day. And I wasn’t thinking about pears but smoked ribs and lamb from the local barbecue joint.

The following day when I began to write a shopping list, I saw that the pears had turned the perfect shades of fall harvest—golden and red with a hint of pale green lingering around the tops.

And I while I had every intention of photographing them in their glorious ripeness—unpacking, writing and cleaning became my priority. Especially since Elvis had admitted that while he was happy to have me back, he had enjoyed his man cave. Code for *ahem man cave stuff.

I knew he needed/wanted hot food after five days of chili, chicken salad, deviled eggs, and cereal. Plus I knew once I got back into my office, press releases, articles, book event announcements and follow up from the conference would take over my life. In other words, the poached pears became a memory and Pear and Cheddar Tart became the new reality.

But first I had to cook dinner. I rooted around in the freezer and uncovered two wild King Alaska salmon portions, pesto from this past summer and a bag of spring peas. Add pasta from the pantry and enter Salmon with Peas & Pesto.

In the fridge, I found a box of pre-made pie crust, half a pound of block cheddar and a few ounces of cream cheese. From the pantry, I scored with a bag of candied dried ginger, dried apricots and roasted salted almonds.

I am a huge fan of the tart. Also called a galette or cottage pie depending on where you are from. One crust pie is good for two reasons—it is much easier to make and more forgiving. Read fewer fuck-ups and two—less carbs. Nuff said.

While the pie crust came up to room temperature, I peeled, cored and sliced the pears and thought about flavors and textures.

And food waste. Yes, it’s impossible to go to SFI and not get jazzed about what’s happening to our environment. Especially as it related to food production and food waste. Which is one of the biggest environmental challenges of our planet! There was plenty of talk about this modern day nightmare and how to solve it. One of the solutions that would create the biggest short and long term impacts would be to reduce single-use plastic. I try.

And while we try to stick to a mostly pescatarian diet—fresh vegetables and some fish and chicken, we like to eat meat on occasion too. And we love to eat cheese and pie! Still shopping for two and sticking with a budget can be a challenge. And it is HARD to avoid plastic. Just look around. Even if you shop at the farmers market, if you do not bring a bag, your produce will be placed in a plastic bag.

And so as I chopped, I became excited about this pie. The ease of finding mostly everyday stocked pantry items to make something delicious and satisfying was something I need to do more of.

Because I don’t always conscientiously do it. I’m guilty. When I want strawberry pie, I go out and buy the ingredients.

As I added a few tablespoons of sugar and a few sprinkles of ground cloves. Then I went to work on the cheese knowing the cream cheese offered creamy texture, cheddar offered a savory flavor to complement the sweetness of the pears. I cubed about two ounces of cream cheese and arranged it on the surface of the rolled out pie dough. Then I grated another two ounces of cheddar cheese over that. Since the pears were firm, think Asian Pear-like, they didn’t break down or turn mushy when sliced. So I arranged the sliced halves around the center of the pie crust. More sugar. A dash more ground cloves.

I sliced the candied ginger and tossed it over the pears.

Then I folded the crust up and around the pears. Brushed an egg white/water combo over the crust. Added turbinado sugar, sliced almonds, and a little more cheddar cheese. Then baked for forty-five minutes at 425 degrees. A few mint sprigs from the garden added a bright pop of summer and flavor. The perfect finish.

Almost.

While we ate the Salmon with Peas & Pesto, Elvis said looking at the cooling Pear and Cheddar Tart, “All we need is some ice cream.”

“No worries,” I said, “I found a container of vanilla tucked under a bag of walnuts in the freezer.”

Like the squirrel, I have learned to store and save for just the right moment. Because life is too short to NOT eat pie!

~Be the squirrel~