Warm Pear and Gorgonzola Tart with Walnuts and Arugula Salad

This tart serves 6 as a starter or 2 – 4 for dinner with more salad and bread

1 sheet of defrosted puff pastry

3 – 4 pears

½ cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese

1 tbsp honey

¼ cup walnuts

2 cups arugula (rocket) salad

Juice and zest of half a lemon

3 tsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

• Pre heat the oven to 450
• Lay the pastry sheet onto some parchment and roll out to get rid of the creases. Score a border around the edge and prick the pastry in the middle with a fork. Move onto a baking tray
• Peel the pears, chop in half, core, then slice thinly
• Arrange on the pastry in lines
• Scatter over the gorgonzola
• Heat the honey in a pan (or microwave) for a few seconds until thin enough to brush over the pears
• Chop the walnuts and scatter over
• Season the tart with about ½ tsp of pepper and ½ of salt.
• Bake for 20 – 25 mins. If your oven is a bit old and unreliable, like mine, turn the tart around half way through cooking in case one bit of oven is hotter than another and the tart cooks unevenly (i.e. one part raw, one part ash, as in my oven).
• Just before the tart comes out of the oven dress the arugula with the lemon juice and zest and the olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper
• Top the tart with the salad and serve

If You Can Make That You Can Make This

• Swap the gorgonzola for any blue cheese that you prefer, or use goats cheese or gouda instead
• Make a salad with lambs lettuce or watercress for a spicier kick
• Dress the salad with 1 tsp of balsamic and three tsp of olive oil rather than lemon
• Fry a diced onion in butter until caramelized and spread on the pastry before topping with the pears
• Or spread the pastry with a thin layer of ricotta cheese

If You Can Make That You Can Definitely Make This:

• Savoury tarts
• Sweet tarts

This originally appeared in a post about family holiday traditions and the danger of kazoos.