Roquefort and walnut tart with crispy pear

Virginia, author of the gastronomic blog Sweet&Sour , invites us to prepare a delicious shortcrust pastry tart with a combination that you will love: Roquefort cheese, walnut and pear. The preparation is simple and the results are exquisite. You can't miss it!

We are already looking forward to the arrival of spring and the longer, warmer days that will allow for more informal meals. So this savoury tart is a good example. It is one of those recipes that, as I say, can be used for "anything but a little something", because you can use it as a main dish for an informal dinner, accompanied by a simple salad, or as a first course for a more informal meal.

In any case, it is easy to make and you can have it ready in advance, because you can enjoy it at room temperature.

Pallarès carbon steel knife and Le Creuset mini-cocotte

You already know that the shortcrust pastry is simple and the touch of walnut goes very well with the filling. The filling is soft and creamy, with the most intense touch given by the Roquefort cheese, but despite its intensity it is attenuated and does not cover the flavour of the rest of the ingredients. The blue cheese combines perfectly with the walnut shortcrust pastry and the crunchy pear topping. As I say, it makes you look like a queen.

You can replace the Roquefort cheese with another one that you like more, such as Gorgonzola, Stilton, or Cabrales, but one that has personality, because as the filling is so creamy its intensity will be attenuated.

I have prepared it with the rectangular mould with a removable base from Buyer , which in my opinion is ideal for this type of presentation, as it is different from the classic round presentation and as it is non-stick and has a removable base, it allows you to put it directly on the table without the risk of ruining the preparation.

Let's get started with the recipe for this pear and Roquefort cheese tart !

INGREDIENTS (For a 36x10cm rectangular mould)

For the walnut shortcrust pastry:

• 210gr of all-purpose flour
• 40gr of ground walnuts
• 125g of very cold butter cut into small squares
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons of ice water
• 1 beaten egg to waterproof the dough when baking it white.

For the filling:

• 225gr of Philadelphia-type cream cheese
• 150gr of liquid cream 35% mg
• 3 ¨L" eggs at room temperature
• 175g of Roquefort cheese*
• 40gr of coarsely chopped shelled walnuts
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Le Paludier Flower of Salt (in moderation)
• Fresh Thyme Leaves

For the Crunchy Pear Slices and Fried Walnut Topping:

• 4-6 very thin slices of Conference pear
• Sugar
• 6 Walnuts
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Walnut Oil "La Tourangelle"

PREPARATION

We prepare the Walnut shortcrust pastry:

You can do it manually, or with a Kitchen Aid type blender .
If we do it by hand, we put the flour, the walnut flour and the salt on the table and mix, add the very cold butter cut into small pieces and mix with the tips of our fingers so as not to overheat the dough. We make a hole in the centre, as if it were a crater, and pour in the lightly beaten egg yolk. We mix with the tips of our fingers without overworking the dough. If necessary, we add water, first a spoonful and then, if the dough still does not clump together in a ball, the other one. Each flour is a world and does not absorb the same amount of water as another, nor are all eggs the same size.

If we make it with a food processor or a blender like the Kitchen Aid , we put all the ingredients in the glass, except for the tablespoons of water, and in the same order as they appear. Pulse for a few seconds at intervals until we have a kind of crumbs. We correct the texture with the remaining water, since it must be just moist enough to be able to cohere. If it has become too dry and the crumbs do not join together, we add the water, spoonful by spoonful and mix.

Roll out the dough into a thick sheet, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour in the fridge. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.

When we are going to prepare the cake, we prepare our De Buyer rectangular mould with removable base , lining the base of the mould with baking paper, and we spray the mould with Brikman non-stick release spray . The mould is non-stick, but I like to do it just to be safe.

We stretch the dough between two sheets of cling film or baking paper to a thickness of 0.6 mm. I used the Joseph Joseph adjustable rolling pin , because it allows me to easily give the same thickness to the whole dough, and for it to cook evenly.

Place the dough in the mould and adjust the dough inside, pressing lightly, but without stretching the dough, so that it does not shrink when baking. Gently prick the base with a fork and place it in the freezer, well covered, for about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC with heat from above and below.

We are going to bake this dough blank, which means that we will bake it beforehand without the filling. To do this, we take the mould with the dough out of the freezer and cover it with baking paper. We add some dried legumes or, which is very practical and specially designed for this, some ceramic baking balls -which save you from throwing away the legumes every time!-, and we bake for about 10-12 minutes.

Joseph Joseph adjustable rolling pin , De Buyer non-stick baking tray and ceramic baking balls

Remove from the oven and remove the paper and weights. Return to the oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until the base has completely dried.
Now we waterproof the pastry base, so that the creamy filling doesn't soak it and make it lose its flaky texture. How? We take it out and paint the base with beaten egg and bake for another 7 minutes, until it looks shiny. We let it cool before adding the filling.

Let's go with the filling:

Pour the Philadelphia cheese into a bowl and beat until soft. Add the cream and mix well. Then add the eggs one by one until well incorporated. Crumble the Roquefort cheese and add it to the mixture.

We mix well with a silicone spatula , so that it doesn't break up too much and we can find pieces of cheese in the bites of the cake. Next we add the chopped walnuts. Finally, we season carefully, since the cheese is already quite salty, and we add the fresh thyme leaves. We pour this mixture over the previously baked white dough.

Le Creuset mini-cocotte , De Buyer non-stick tray and De Buyer rectangular mould with removable base

We put it on a non-stick debuyer tray and bake it for about 30-35 minutes, or until it turns lightly brown and begins to swell.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack . When it is cold, carefully remove from the mould. I recommend using the base of the mould to transport it to the serving dish or board where it will be served, without breaking it.

To prepare the crispy pear slices:

It's simple, we just have to cut them very thinly, almost transparent, for which I recommend using a mandolin . I have the De Buyer swing mandolin and it's fantastic. We cover the pear slices with a little sugar and place them on baking paper, on the same non-stick De Buyer tray. We bake at the same time as the cake, or until they are golden and crispy.

Just before serving our cake, we put a frying pan with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and fry some walnut halves until they are almost black. Don't be afraid, they are not bitter.

Serve the tart with the slices of crispy pear on top and a fried walnut. Drizzle with a little La Tourangelle Walnut Oil and serve with a green rocket salad.

This cake is delicious at room temperature, better than cold, but if you have any leftover pieces, store them in the fridge and then, before serving, put them in the oven.

Tips:

- If you have a Kitchen Aid, you can use it to make the first part of the filling, up to the Roquefort cheese, fitted with the paddle attachment. The process is very fast and the results are very uniform.

Enjoy.
Virginia