"Sometimes I think that my life is a bit too short to make my own puff pastry from scratch, so if I’m buying, I make sure it’s all-butter puff pastry," says Catherine.
Ingredients
- 5 large firm pears, peeled and sliced into wedges
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 50g softened butter
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 6 small sprigs thyme
- 150g ‘ready roll’ all-butter puff pastry
For the Egg Wash:
- one egg with 2 tablespoons of water
- Small thyme sprigs, to decorate
- Honey, to drizzle
- Lemon strips, to decorate
Method
"Sometimes I think that my life is a bit too short to make my own puff pastry from scratch, so if I'm buying, I make sure it's all-butter puff pastry," says Catherine.
- Place the pears in a medium bowl and pour over the lemon juice and a little water to keep them from browning.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C, gas mark 6).
- Line the base of 20cm springform tin or loose base flan tin with parchment.
- Heat the butter, sugar, honey and some lemon zest in a small saucepan over a medium heat until melted and very lightly golden.
- Pour into the base of the tin and arrange the pears and thyme in the base.
- Roll the pastry out to just larger than the base of the tin. Carefully cover the pears, tucking in the edges.
- Brush egg wash over the top and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and well risen.
- Leave in the tin for at least 10 minutes to cool before carefully turning out onto a serving plate, then unclipping, if a springform tin, and removing the base of the tin.
- Decorate with thyme sprigs, lemon strips and drizzle a little honey over the top and serve with natural Greek-style yoghurt.
Top Tip:
When arranging the pear slices, keep them very neat because this is the presentation side. Halved plums are also delicious with lemon strips, rosemary and a little honey as a topping.
