Iron Chef Challenge: Pears and Nuts

Coming in right at the cutoff time...  I made a Pear and Almond Tart.  I'm hoping Blogger quits being a meanie soon and lets me upload the picture!  Whew! Ok, there it is:

nommy nom nom nom

I wasn't sure I was going to participate this week, but Michael got called unexpectedly in to work this afternoon, so...  I had some free time.  I don't have any pictures of it cut yet because it LITERALLY just came out of the oven and I'm going to wait until he gets home, but I will give you the recipe.  Even though I'm not sure if it's good, or crap.  It's like food roulette!  I will admit that I used a frozen piecrust (sorry, Mom!) because I was running low on time and honestly just didn't feel like messing with it.  So that's why the crust looks so perfect and the pan it's in is just tin.  Oh well.

Pear and Almond Tart

1 pie crust

3-4 red pears, cored and thinly sliced

1/2 cup raw almonds

1/4 cup vegan butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

juice of 1 lemon

dash of salt

small amount of water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

flour (for coating pear slices)

Give the almonds a couple of pulses in the food processor, so you have some small bits as well as some whole almonds left.  Heat a small saucepan and toast the almonds, until they smell toasty (about 5 minutes).  Add the butter until it melts, then add brown sugar, stirring to incorporate.  Juice your lemon into the mix, then stir in the salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and ginger.  Heat until bubbling, then cover and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375F.  Core and slice the pears.  Arrange in a pie crust, coating each slice first in flour.  Once you have a nice design on the top (or not!), start heating up the almond mixture again.  It will be a little thick, so add a little water, until it's more like a liquidy syrup instead of almond gravy.  Pour this mixture over the top of your pears, filling in any open areas with the almonds.  Pop in the oven for 45 minutes.  That's it!

Pretty simple, especially if you use a frozen crust...  (i.e. cheat)

I'll let you know tomorrow if it's actually any good :)