1. Home
  2. /
  3. Recipes
  4. /
  5. Pear & Blue Cheese Tart with Walnut Shortcrust

Pear & Blue Cheese Tart with Walnut Shortcrust

Made with Vegetable Broth
recipe-difficulty
Not too tricky
recipe-serves
8
ready-in
1 hr 30 mins
Pear & Blue Cheese Tart with Walnut Shortcrust

This tantalising tart pear-fectly balances the flavour of sweet pears with the creamy boldness of blue cheese, all nestled in a buttery shortcrust pastry. And let’s not forget the secret ingredient - Vegetable Broth Garden Veggie, which adds a dose of 10 veggies to support immunity, energy and gut wellbeing, that’s got to put a cheesy smile on your face right there! 

Main Meals
Mediterranean inspired
Pantry Items
View in metric
  • 1.1 lbs pack shortcrust pastry
  • 3.5 oz walnuts
  • Plain flour, for dusting
  • 1.8 oz butter
  • 4 shallots, sliced
  • 2 pears, cored and sliced
  • 3 eggs
  • 5.1 fl oz cream
  • 5.3 oz creme fraiche
  • Fresh thyme
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • 2 tbsp Vegetable Broth Garden Veggie
  • 2 cups rice (for blind baking tart case)
  • 5.3 oz blue cheese (or an alternative sharp cheese if you prefer)
  • Sage
  1. Blitz your walnuts to make a fine crumb.
  2. Lay out a layer of shortcrust pastry and sprinkle some of your walnuts over the top, alternate pastry and crumbs, then use a rolling pin to press and combine. Line a 9-inch tart tin with pastry, then trim excess and fork press. Chill for at least 30 minutes while you get the filling ingredients ready. 
  3. Melt butter in a pan over a medium heat, add shallots and fry gently until very soft. Turn up the heat to caramelize them a little, then remove from the pan to cool. 
  4. Crank up to a high heat and in the same pan add diced pears along with a knob of butter and fry to add a little colour. 
  5. Whisk the egg, cream, creme fraiche, thyme, Vegetable Broth and season with salt and pepper - remember the blue cheese will add saltiness.
  6. Heat oven to 392F. Line the tart tin with foil over the pastry, add rice and cook for 15 minutes until the pastry is set and sandy in colour. Remove the foil and the rice and continue baking for about 10-15 minutes, or until it is golden and cooked through. Turn down the oven to 356F.
  7. Remove the pastry from the oven and scatter with caramelized shallots, pear slices, remaining walnuts and most of the blue cheese. Pour over the egg mixture, top with remaining blue cheese and a little more thyme and sage. Return to the oven and bake until the tart is set with just a slight wobble in the centre (approx 20 minutes).
  8. Serve just warm or at room temperature.