One of the things that charmed me about New Zealand before we came to live here was the seasonal nature of food. It seems my fantasy of a fine upstanding country that would not be plagued by globalisation has been broken with the sight of strawberries in the supermarket this week imported from somewhere else in the world.  Even if I had been tempted by the prospect the price certainly put me off.

Right now we’re enjoying the fruits of our autumn harvest with Pears plentiful right now.  I’d like to say that these are my pears grown in our orchard but alas we are a few years from that so instead we bought some New Zealand organic pears grown locally as the next best thing.  Over indulging from the fruit bowl I was inspired to make a Pear and Almond Tart that I spied in one of my back issues of Cuisine Magazine as I was trawling for seasonal recipes to try out this month.

Even though I had the day off I cheated with this recipe by using up some sweet pastry I had in the freezer rather than making it fresh.  A heinous crime I know but I’m all for an easy life.  The filling was a breeze with the help the food processor – don’t you just love kitchen gadgets.

When you’ve whizzed up the mixture you just fill the pastry case and then add in the pears giving you the prospect of pure pear deliciousness.

It was almost good enough to eat just like this but I did manage to slam it in the oven before I got carried away.

It was well worth the wait.  And wait I had to.  Until his lordship came home and could admire.

Admire he did, several days in row with a slice of tart in his lunch box to keep those low sugar moments at bay.  This tart is definitely one I’d make again.  I’d like to share a little more detail with you but somehow in all the excitement of eating I neglected to take any photographs – not quite the committed food blogger I thought I was!

Although pears are in season right now in New Zealand I’m sure that they will also be available in the northern hemisphere since you can pretty much get anything anytime in the UK and US so you can still try this recipe and enjoy it with lashings of cream or ice cream as a change from gorging on all those summer fruits!  I don’t approve of of such behaviour but will turn a blind eye so you can enjoy a little of our seasonal cuisine wherever you are.

Pear and Almond Tart

adapted from Cuisine

PASTRY: 180g butter, chilled and cut into tiny pieces, 240g flour and pinch of salt

Pulse the ingredients together in the food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add a little water (1-2 tablespoons) and pulse again until it bind together.  Tip onto a clean board dusted with flour and lightly kneed to bring it into a ball. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll out and line a 25cm loose bottomed tart ring.  Refrigerate again for 15 minutes

TART: 250g ground almonds, 150g caster sugar, 200g butter (@ room temperature), 3 eggs, 100g flour, pinch of cinamon, 4 medium pears (peeled, quartered and cored – toss in lemon juice), icing sugar to dust.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees  C and place a baking tray in the oven on which you’ll put the tart to cook.

Whizz almonds and sugar in food processor before adding butter and mix until pale and smooth.  Add eggs one at a time and then add flour and cinnamon.  Whizz briefly to combine until the mixture is combined and smooth.

Tip the mixture into the tart base and spread over the base.  Arrange the pears in the mix on top.  Bake tart on top of the pre-heated baking sheet for 15 minutes then lower the heat to 160 degrees C and continue baking for another 35-40 minutes until the pastry is golden and crisp.

Remove from oven and dust with icing sugar. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream or straight up!