A gourmet appetizer providing the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors and textures thanks to its trio of main ingredients; pear, cheese, and hazelnuts.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 2 cups soy flour
- 5¼ tablespoons rice flour
- 7 tablespoons salted butter (chilled, cut into pieces)
- Ice water
Filling
- 4 medium, ripe pears (cored, peeled)
- 2½ cups pecorino cheese
- ⅓ cup hazelnuts (divided)
- 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese (grated)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Salt
How to Make It
- First, prepare the pie crust. In a mixing bowl, combine the soy flour, and rice flour along with the chilled pieces of salted butter. Add the iced water, a little at a time. Using clean hands, knead the dough until it's an even consistency but taking care not to over-knead.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator for 60 minutes.
- Next, prepare the filling. Thinly slice the pears and pecorino cheese to the same thickness. Coarsely chop the hazelnuts. You will need some for the filling and some for the pie crust.
- Finally, prepare the pie. Remove the prepared dough from the fridge and on a clean workspace, roll out. Place it on a lightly buttered pie plate. Add half of the chopped nuts along with the pear slices and alternating with the pecorino cheese slices.
- Add the remaining nuts, the grated Parmesan, a dash of salt and a generous sprinkle of black pepper.
- Transfer to an oven set to 355 degrees F and bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve warm.
