Savoury tart with pears, sun-dried tomatoes and blue Lazur cheese

I’m spending a few days down south, so I’m staying with my parents. Ever since I started the recipe site, or rather since I posted the recipe for Czeladź cheesecake, my dad has been its biggest fan. I’ve visited my parents two or three times since, and every time there’s a kilo of curd cheese waiting for me and a “You will make the cheesecake, won’t you?” by way of hello.

So this morning started with making pancakes (pancakes) at Ninka’s request, then cheesecake at Dad’s request, and Mum decided I could make a tart for lunch. I spent pretty much the whole time in the kitchen until 13h, when I put the tart in the oven (I got up quite late). Pity I didn’t have any energy bars, because I honestly felt as though I’d done several rounds of CrossFit (whatever that is).

I thought I’d make a different tart from last time (the broccoli one). When I arrived, Mum told me Dad had found a special offer on sun-dried tomatoes and bought a dozen or so jars, so the idea pretty much suggested itself. What to do with sun-dried tomatoes? At first it was going to be very much like the broccoli tart, with tomatoes in place of broccoli as the only change. Then I spotted some pears, tasted one and decided that pears and a fairly firm blue cheese (I used blue Lazur) would round out the flavour perfectly.

I’ll admit I was a bit nervous about that combination. As soon as the tart came out of the oven I had a taste, just to make sure I wasn’t about to embarrass myself in front of my parents. And I’ll admit I was surprised. I think it’s even better than the broccoli tart. Of course, it’s a million calories again and a whole dump truck full of guilt. But it really is worth it. I thoroughly recommend it, especially as making it is hardly a feat of daring. I wouldn’t really recommend swapping the homemade pastry for ready-made either (shop-bought puff pastry, say). This time I decided to make the sides higher than last time, hence the extra pastry ingredients, and that’s the recipe I’m giving you. There’s just the right amount of filling for a deep tart like this, too.

At a glance: 

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 50 minutes

Oven temperature: 190 degrees Celsius

Serves: 4

Calories: don’t spoil your mood with the answer, just see how good it tastes.

Ingredients for a savoury pear tart:

       For the pastry

• 200 grams of butter
• one and a half cups of wheat flour
• 4–5 tablespoons of cold water

       For the filling:

• 2 medium sweet pears
• a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil (300 grams including the oil)
• 3 hen’s eggs
• 250 millilitres of 18% fat cream
• 6 slices of lean smoked ham
• a leek (the light green part, a piece about 8 centimetres long)
• 180 grams of blue Lazur cheese
• 4 medium shallots
• a teaspoon of ground black pepper
• a teaspoon of thyme
• a teaspoon of lovage
• a teaspoon of salt

Method (worth it, I promise):

I started with the pastry. I put half a cup of flour into a bowl, then added half a block of cold butter cut into thin strips. Next came the other half-cup of flour and the rest of the butter. I gave it a good mix with a big spoon and started working it with my hands. I added 5 tablespoons of water and another half-cup of flour. I worked the dough thoroughly and put it in a plastic bag. Into the fridge it went (I was just putting my Czeladź cheesecake in the oven, and that bakes for an hour, so I had time. Otherwise I’d have put the pastry in the freezer for 20 minutes).

In a frying pan I fried the shallots, sliced into rings, with the finely chopped lean smoked ham. Just a few minutes, enough for the shallots to turn translucent and swap aromas with the ham. Into a fairly deep bowl (there’ll be quite a lot of filling, so you don’t want it spilling out as you stir) went the finely chopped leek and the whole jar of sun-dried tomatoes (I cut them into 1-centimetre strips on a paper towel to soak up the oil), followed by the fried shallots and ham. I added three hen’s eggs and the seasonings and mixed everything thoroughly.

I peeled the pears, diced them finely and added them to the filling. I gave it a stir and added the cream (250 millilitres, a small carton). I cut the cheese into cubes measuring 1 by 1 centimetre, added it to the filling and gave it another good stir. Filling done.

I took the pastry out of the fridge and rolled it into a circle wider than my round cake tin (the kind with high sides). Then I cut out a circle exactly the diameter of the base and laid it in the bottom of the tin. I pressed the remaining pastry up the sides to make a deep shell. I put the tin with the pastry in the freezer for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes I took it out and poured in the well-mixed filling. I baked it for 50 minutes in an oven preheated to 190 degrees Celsius. Done. Enjoy!