Pears Sweet and Savoury

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

• 2 pears, peeled and lightly poached in a lightly sugared, winey syrup
• 1 sheet of store bought puff paste
• a few drops of balsamic
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tbls blue cheese
• thyme
• pepper

Method Savoury Tart

Remove pears from poaching liquid and let cool. Reduce liquid to syrupy consistency.

Place the pastry on an oiled baking sheet and prick with a fork leaving an inch border around the edge.

Slice pears in half and cut out core. Slice pear halves thinly and fan across the pastry leaving a one inch border. The pears will be softish and this will not be the most elegant fan of sliced fruit you will ever see but it will taste corker.

Crumble blue cheese over and press gently. Dot with little drops of balsamic. Fold over edge of pastry so that half the fold covers pears and press with a fork.

Pop in a 175 degree oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

Let cool on bench. Heat syrup, reduce till quite thick, toss in a teaspoon of chopped thyme. Spoon a little over cool tart.

Method Salad with pear crisps

Core firm but ripe pears. Slice lengthwise about 2 - 3mm thick. Best to have a kitchen device for this.

Brush slices with lemon juice as you go and place on trays of your dehydrator. Dry until crisp.

Now you can either make a tossed salad with greens in abundance or you can go all fancy and make a stacked up thing with the pear slices and call that a salad.

Either way, toss the pear slices with a little olive oil and salt just before manufacturing the salad.

Again blue cheese is a great companion, walnuts are great, a few whisper thin slices of onion, some toothsome sprouts, watercress and marinated artichokes all combine beautifully with these delicious pear crisps.