French Pear Tart

As pigeon would say, this is a taste sensation! If you know pigeon, you must live a life immersed in children, as I do. He speaks of hot dogs, I speak of this delicate tart.

I admit, when I got to the "ground almonds", I panicked a little. Does this mean the mortar & pestle kind of grinding? I don't have the tools or time for that sort of work. So, I improvised.

I took my blanched almond slivers and put them through the food processor. Almond dust, yes. Ground almonds, not really. I poured them into a baggy and whacked and rolled them with my marble rolling pin. I've never rolled dough or crust with this pin, but it's great for grinding things. So, here's a shot of my wrinkley-looking hand (I swear I am not old yet) with the fruit of my efforts. Good enough! While doing this, I had the image of an old mill with the horse working in a circle to grind the wheat...my results were not terribly fine, but now I see they worked.

I used pears canned by my mother-in-law, so I had home-poached pears without the work!

Here's a shot of the finished tart that Jim and I think is wonder. The beauty in this tart is the rich, almost satiny filling with the light pear texture. Surprising how this tart was not too sweet, but was very rich at the same time. Yum. I leave for England in a couple days, so I get to leave this beauty behind to be devoured by those whose hips can afford the calories.

FYI- this is a 10-inch tart pan, so it's not to Dorie code, but it worked fine.