This pie was almost like a “Pantry Challenge”:
I had bought a huge bag of pears on special at Superstore and wanted to make something that would be good for breakfast.
I also had ricotta in the fridge – I bought it at Costco for gnocchi and of course only needed ONE of the 2 tubs, so finding a use for the second one was becoming critical.
I scoured dozens of recipes…and finally settled on a pear and ricotta galette which I adapted to make it more “Canadian”, eh. [In other words I swapped out the walnuts in the original recipe for pecans and also subbed out the honey for maple syrup]
What I love about this pie is that it would make a brilliant dessert but it’s equally perfect as a breakfast baked treat. It is like a way-less-sugary Danish.
This galette has a fabulous crust – really flaky and buttery and has just enough crunch.
Pear & Pecan Ricotta Galette
Ingredients
Crust
- 1½ cups flour
- ¼ tspn salt
- 1 tbspn white sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold
- 6 tbspn water iced
Filling
- 6 Bartlett Pears
- 2 tbspn Brown sugar
- ½ tspn cinnamon
- 200 g ricotta cheese
- ½ cup pecan pieces
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 tbspn corn starch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°
- Combine flour, sugar and salt in bowl of a food processor
- Add finely chopped butter and pulse until crumbly
- Pour water in to mixture and pulse until a crumbly dough forms.
- Remove dough from food processor, roll into a ball and then flatten into a disc
- Wrap dough disc in plastic film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
- Peel pears, core them and slice thinly
- Toss pears in a large bowl with corn starch, cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans and set aside
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Roll dough into a 12" circle on top of the parchment paper
- Spread ricotta evenly over the dough, leaving a 1" border round the edge.
- Top with pear/pecan mixture and fold the edges over. If you like you can sprinkle some cinnamon sugar over the top prior to baking.
- Bake 30-40 minutes until pears have caramelized and crust has browned.
- Remove from oven and let it cool before serving.
- Drizzle honey or maple syrup over pie before serving.
