Almond Blueberry Pear Tart

Almond Blueberry Pear Tart

It's Fall and that means time to get back into the kitchen and bake!

This is my variation of the Pear Tart recipes circulating around the Internet and Pinterest.
I had a two pound bag of red bartlet pears from Trader Joe's, while pretty, were ripening pretty fast.  I peeled and sliced them yet they didn't quite fill the tart pan.  So I added a couple handfuls of frozen blueberries - about a cup, to fill in the spaces.

Filling - 1 3/4 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut up.  (Next time I'm dialing back the sugar to 1 1/2 cups.)
Mix sugar and flour together.  Add bits of butter.  Mix with fingers until crumbly.  Distribute over fruit.

Bake at 425 for 30 minutes
If crust is starting to brown too quickly, adjust oven temperature to 375 and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until filling is bubbly.   Sprinkle toasted almond slivers on top.
Let cool, and top with BlueBell Homemade Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and enjoy!

Here's my Fool Proof Pie Crust recipe from Good Housekeeping magazine.

For a 9" baked pie shell or tart:

1 1/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut up
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2-5 tablespoons ice water (I usually end up using about 2 1/2, since Houston is so humid)
Directions

In food processor with knife blade attached, blend flour and salt.
Add butter and shortening, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until large moist crumbs just begin to form.

Shape dough into disk; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.
(If chilled overnight, let dough stand 30 minutes at room temperature before rolling.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough into 12-inch round. Ease dough round into 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate. Gently press dough against bottom and up sides of plate without stretching. Trim dough edge, leaving 1-inch overhang. Fold overhang under; pinch to form stand-up edge, then make decorative edge.

Freeze pie shell 15 minutes.
Line pie shell with foil or parchment, and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until beginning to set. Remove foil with weights, and bake 13 to 15 minutes longer or until golden. If shell puffs up during baking, gently press it down with back of spoon. Cool on wire rack until ready to fill.

Nutritional information is based on 1/10 of a pie shell.
To make Deep-Dish Baked Pie Shell: Prepare 9-Inch Baked Pie Shell as above, but increase all-purpose flour to 1 1/2 cups and vegetable shortening to 1/4 cup. Ease dough into 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate.

Each 1/10 of the pie shell: About 165 calories, 2 g protein, 14 g carbohydrate, 11 g total fat (5 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 16 mg cholesterol, 120 mg sodium.