I'm going to get this year started with a fun way to empty your fridge. The holidays may have left you with a bunch of leftovers that you don't know what to do with. Breakfast tarts are made from delicate puff pastry and are topped with whatever you like! I love classics like egg, prosciutto, spinach, and cheese; but these babies have infinite possibilities. Pesto, sundried tomatoes, leftover rotisserie chicken, smoked salmon, arugula, asparagus, even good ole ham and cheese.
When pears are in season, you have to cherish them, and fast. Pears seem to only flourish in their prime for a few days once brought home, scolding you if you hesitate to devour them quickly enough. My dad recently purchased an entire flat of Bartlett pears from Costco, and I instantly racked my brain for delicious recipes. Bright salads, sauces, and pastries danced around my head all day. Finally I decided to attempt baking with puff pastry for the first time. This tart is visually beautiful, wonderful for entertaining and really impressing your guests. Ginger, cinnamon, and brown sugar bring out the sweetness of the fresh pears, and they are cradled in a delicate puff pastry.
This was my first time working puff pastry, and all I could think of was Alton Brown’s old show Good Eats, which focused on the scientific reasons behind cooking and food’s reactions to certain techniques. It was one of my favorite shows while growing up, and I remember him testing out different techniques for cutting puff pastry so as not to damage the layers. The best tool for the job was a pizza cutter! It provided even pressure with quick cuts. For this tart, you don’t need to do much cutting at all, in fact, I didn’t even need to cut my puff pastry sheet because it broke off into the size I needed when it thawed from the freezer.
