Rustic Gorgonzola Pear Tart

I had quite a few pears from my pear trees and I made this rustic pear tart last Sunday for dinner. It really turned out better than I thought. My family really liked it and I hope you will give it a try. It has a little different twist. I love Gorgonzola cheese and I thought the cheese would go well with the pears and it really did. Sounds a little different but it was really good.

6 medium pears, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 stick of butter
1 cup of coarsely chopped walnut
1 6 ounce container of Gorgonzola cheese
3-4 teaspoons of cornstarch
1 pie crust rolled out to be about a 14-16 inch circle

In a large skillet melt butter then add sliced pears. Let the pears saute in the butter a couple of minutes before you add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir well until all of these ingredients have dissolved and made a sauce. On medium low heat let the pears cook until tender or crisp tender which ever you prefer. I cooked mine for about 20 minutes.

While the pears are cooking make your pie crust and roll it out to be about a 14 to
16 inch circle. After the pears have cooked. Put 3-4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 1/4cup of water and mix well and pour into pears and stir until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and spoon mixture into the center of your pie crust. Keep spooning mixture into the center until you have emptied your pan. Then you can spread the pears out onto the pie crust and leave a 3 to 4 inch border of pie crust. Crumble half a container of Gorgonzola cheese over the top of the pears and your coarsely chopped walnuts over that. Then fold your border up over the pears. You will probably have about a 5-6 inch hole where you can see your pie mixture. You can brush an egg wash on the pie crust if you like. Just beat one egg and brush the egg onto your pie crust. Your crust should brown nicely if you do not want to do that.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm!