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Walnut, Blue Cheese and Pear Tart

Cook Time:

1 hour 45 minutes cooking time

Serves:

Portion for 3 - 4 people

Walnut, Blue Cheese and Pear Tart

To make the pastry –
50 g shelled walnuts
150 g gluten free flour (I used GF Oat flour)
80 g unsalted butter form the fridge
1 large free range egg yolk

To make the filling –
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
200 g Swiss chard (without the stalks)
1 teaspoon powdered fenugreek
1 large or two small pears
3 large free range eggs
The tip of a teaspoon of grated nutmeg
150 g crème fraiche
150 g gorgonzola
50 g shelled walnut halves

Begin by making the pastry. Add the walnuts to a kitchen machine and whizz to breadcrumb size, then sift in the GF flour, a pinch of salt and the butter and whizz until you have large crumbs. Add the egg yolk and whizz until the dough forms, remove to a piece of baking parchment the put in the fridge for 30 minutes to cool. Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C and while this is happening remove the stalks from the chard and roughly chop. Add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to a large frying pan and when hot add the chard along with some powdered fenugreek and stir fry until wilted, then set aside. Next peel the pears, remove the core and stalk and slice into wedges. Baste with a little oil and place on a baking tray an place in the oven for 15 minutes when it has reached the required temperature and set aside when done.

Next when the dough is chilled place on another baking parchment and cover with the first one then roll out to around the thickness of a pound coin. Use the parchment to transfer to a 20 cm tart tin and chill again for 30 minutes. Then layer parchment on top of the base in the tin and add dry weight to blind bake (I used dried peas) for 15 minutes, remove the parchment and peas and then bake again for 10 minutes. Next beat three eggs in a bowl then add nutmeg, crème fraiche and chop in the gorgonzola in as small pieces as you can manage. Mix again and when the time is up on the tart, add half of the cooked chard then half of the egg mix and top with the remaining chard and egg mix finally topping with walnut halves. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and leave for at least 20 minutes to cool before serving.

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