Pastry
Olive oil makes a very short pastry, which can be very crumbly – I use some butter as well to add some moisture and make it a little firmer when cooked. You could omit the butter if you wish and add more olive oil and a tablespoon of water.
250 g plain flour
100 g unsalted butter
200 g sour cream
4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
In a food processor, add the flour and the roughly chopped butter – process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sour cream and the olive oil and pulse a few times to roughly mix together – be careful not to overwork it. The advantage with olive oil is you don’t have to work the dough as much – as it is a liquid. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Filling
10 pears (Beurre Bosc)
100 g butter
150 g sugar
1 tbs caster sugar
Peel pears, halve and core. Choose your pan carefully. Either a tarte tatin pan or I use an old 28cm nonstick frying pan minus the handle. Melt the butter and lay the pears round side down in concentric circles in the pan – remember the fruit will shrink with cooking so be generous with it. Sprinkle over the sugar and cook slowly on a low to medium heat on top of the stove until any moisture has evaporated and the pears are starting to caramelize. This can take up to an hour.
Put the pears aside to cool, then roll out pastry and place over the pears making sure you have about a 2 cm overhang, which you can tuck under to form a lip when the tart is turned out. The tart can sit in the fridge until you’re ready to cook. Sprinkle the pastry top with the caster sugar and cook at 220°C for 40 minutes.
Leave to sit for a few minutes and then carefully invert onto a serving dish.
Serve warm with cream.