Pear & Hazelnut Tart
Preheat the oven to 190ºC

Filo Pastry to line flan tin

3 large pears of equal ripeness, peeled cored & halved
Apple juice or water
70g hazelnuts, finely ground*
60g caster sugar
50g butter, softened, but not melted
1 large egg

Put the pears in a saucepan and cover with the apple juice or water.Bring to the boil and simmer very gently until the pears are just tender.This can take 12-40 mins, depending on the variety and ripeness of the fruit.

Line flan tin with 4 or 5 sheets of filo pastry overlapping the sheets.Mix together the hazelnuts, sugar, egg & butter to form a smooth paste and spread over the pastry base.

When the pears have cooled a little slice in 5mm slices and arrange on top of the nut mixture.Bake for 25-30 minutes and ideally, serve immediately with whipped cream or ice cream.

* I like to use roughly crushed pecan nuts to ring the changes in this recipe.