Pear and mincemeat pie This pear and mincemeat tart as a rich crumbly hazelnut and orange flavoured pastry which melts in the mouth. Serve hot or cold with whipped cream flavoured with a little cointreau for a special treat. It is also delicious with steaming hot custard.
To make the pastry, place the hazelnuts in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Add the flour and icing sugar, and blitz again.
Add the butter and blitz until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Then add the orange zest, juice and egg yolk and blitz in short bursts until the pastry starts to clump together.
Tip out onto a work surface and finish bringing the pastry together with your hands to form a dough. Cover and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Roll out about ¾ of the pastry and use to line a 25cm deep round flan tin or pie dish. Prick the base with a fork and chill for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile to prepare the filling, mix the pears, mincemeat and orange juice together in a bowl. Pile into the pastry case and level the top as evenly as possible.
Preheat the oven to 190℃/180℃ fan/gas mark 5. Roll out the remaining pastry and use a cutter to cut out shapes and place over the top of the filling overlapping abut leaving a small amount of the filling showing through in place.
Lightly beat the egg white with a fork and brush over the pastry shapes and sprinkle with a little caster sugar.
Bake in the oven for 35 – 40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Alternatively cool completely and serve cold.
Notes
Freeze: The pie can be made and frozen before baking. Open freeze before wrapping well and store for up to 6 months. Allow to thaw completely and glaze with egg white and sugar just before baking The cooked pie can also be frozen for up to 3 months.