Frangipane Tart with Pears and Pistachios

This delightful Pear Tart is filled with a frangipane cream made with pistachios rather than the usual almonds, which gives it a dazzling green colour and stunning flavour. Made with a classic buttery French Tart Crust, it's a perfect Autumn dessert that makes the most of ripe pears. Smart and yet rustically casual, this tart is fitting for any occasion.

Pastry:
1 Pâte Sucrée (French Shortcrust Pastry - Sweet)

Poached Pears:
4 pears (of equal size, 220 g/7 oz each, ~10 cm/4" tall)
1 lemon, to acidulate water and stop pears from going brown
2 qts water (2 L)
1 cup white sugar
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract or ¼ tsp. vanilla powder

Pistachio Cream Filling (Frangipane):
7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1 cm/0.4" cubes (100 g)
½ cup caster sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature (2 oz each, 55-60 g)
¾ cup pistachios, unsalted, roasted, shelled, skinned, blitzed until fine powder

Assembly:
2½ Tbsp. pistachios, unsalted, roasted, finely chopped for sprinkling
2 Tbsp. apricot jam, mixed with 1 tsp. water and warmed for glazing

Make and bake Tart Crust, then fully cool before using.

Poached Pears:
Peel, remove stem, then halve and core (I use melon baller). Keep peeled pears in a separate bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice (to stop them going brown).

Place (2 qts/2 L) water, sugar and vanilla in a pot and bring it to a boil. Lower heat so the water is rippling but there are no large bubbles breaking on surface. Beads of tiny bubbles is fine.

Place pears into pot, poach for 20-25 minutes until pears are soft all the way through. Check with a knife on the side, not top of pears.

Once cooked, drain on paper towels until fully cool.

Pistachio Filling:
Mix butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Add eggs one at a time, whisking each until fully incorporated before adding the next.

Mix in pistachio until fully incorporated.

Preheat an oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

Assembly:
Spread pistachio mixture in tart crust, and smooth the surface.

Place 7 pear halves on top in a radial pattern with the narrow ends pointing inwards. Cut the 8th half so it will fit in the centre, and place in middle of tart. Slightly push pears in so that they're partially submerged.

Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven.

While still warm, brush with apricot jam glaze to make it shiny, then sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Fully cool, then slice to serve. It's beautiful just served as-is. Optional extras: a dollop of crème fraîche, whipped cream or ice cream.

Cook's Notes:

• Tart pastry - Use your favourite tart crust. I am using a French Sweet Tart Crust called Pâte Sucrée which is an excellent buttery, flaky crust that's simple to make and easy to work with. Easier and tastier than sweet shortcrust, in my opinion.
• Pears - Don't get pears that are too soft because they're more difficult to handle once cooked.
• Alternatives to Pears: Apricots or apples. (Aus: Jazz or pink lady are ideal, US: honey crisp). Peaches would work too. Poach until soft using the provided poaching recipe;
• Lemon - For acidulating water, which stops the pears going brown while you peel and core the remainder.
• Vanilla - Alternatively, two used vanilla bean pods or ¼ tsp. vanilla powder
• Checking pears - Don't insert the knife on the top of the pears to check if they are cooked. The top is the presentation side but the slit will widen when the tart bakes and it looks unattractive. Check on the side or underside of the pear.
• Storage - Keeps for 1 week, best stored in the fridge. Can be frozen, but pear texture may suffer.