Every now and then as I pass the kitchen windows on the way to the barn for the afternoon feedings, I know I am in for something amazing once the sun sets. Shana is inside over the mixing bowl after her chicken yard rounds with the girls, with the freshest of the fresh eggs. With the girls starting to lay a few more eggs a day, the oven is going almost daily with baked treats. Today’s smell drifting out into the farm was a Roasted Pear Crostata, an open faced rustic tart. The recipe is from Boston’s Flour: Cafe + Bakery. Shana and Sarah stopped in at the Cambridge shop last November during a trip to visit my younger brother who is at Northeastern University in Boston. Needless to say, during their week vacation they averaged 1.4 visits to Flour a day! Now already worn and stained is the chef/owner Joanne Chang’s (an economist and math grad from Harvard!!) book of spectacular recipes.

9 Bosc pears, peeled, halved, cored (we used Orcas pears from the orchard. We’d already eaten all of our Bosc’s)

1 inch knob of fresh ginger thinly sliced

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces

Pate Brisee (shortcrust pastry dough)

Frangipane (almonds, eggs, sugar, flour….. was soooo delicious. Shana made a big batch, that we’ve kept in the fridge. It’s been going on a lot of other pastries)

1 egg lightly beaten

2 tablespoons sugar for dusting

Recipe calls for 1 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries. We have hardy kiwi from the garden that we used instead. AMAZING!

1. Heat up the oven to 400 degrees F. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper

2. 9″ x 13″ baking pan, but use what you got! Toss the pears, ginger, sugar, and butter together. Stick it the oven and roast it for 1 hour or so, until the pears are soft when pierced w/knife and golden. You can give it a stir every now. Let cool completely. You can do this a couple days ahead if you wish. It’ll store just fine!

3. Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it about on a well floured surface until its about 12″ circle and 1/4″ thick. Place on the pre-lined baking sheet.

4. Spread the frangipane around the middle of the dough, leaving about 3″ border on the edge of the dough uncovered.

5. Now you can get all arty and pastry chef about the appearance of the pears on the dough. Place the pears cut side down in a circle on top of the frangipane. Sprinkle the cranberries/kiwi/strawberries etc… on top of the pears. Then top the first layer of fruit with another layer of pears and sprinkle a few more cranberries/kiwi/etc… on top of the second layer of pears.

6. Starting at one side of the crostata, fold the 3″ border of dough up and over the fruit. The center of the crostata will remained exposed. (Chef Joanne Chang fanned a pear for decoration here). Refrigerate the assembled corstata for at least 1 hour.

7. Heat the oven to 350 F

8. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and then sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Make sure the dough is not chewy, but golden and bake through evenly. Let it cool and serve at room temperature. Enjoy!!

My mom handles desserts, I handle dinner. Next up….. I think I am going to make a fresh pizza tonight. Maybe some dried figs we have left from the summer? Caramelized onion? And our lovely neighbor’s fresh chevre?? Ok…. to the KITCHENMOBILE!

Zach.