Wanting to make a pie for Pi day, this tart came together fast. It was fast because I used ingredients we always have on hand: our REAL Apricot Butter and our REAL Cashew Yogurt for the fantastic gluten-free, vegan pie crust. Of course, you can use commercial brands but we encourage you to get in the habit of making certain products routinely so they are on hand when you need them. That’s the REAL way!
Ingredients:
4 ripe, organic Pears
1/4 Apricot Butter or other light-colored, unsweetened fruit jam.
1 dough for one 8-inch pie. I used our favorite Easy-to-Roll Tart Shell or Pie Crust Recipe that is vegan and gluten-free.
2 pieces Parchment or wax paper, at least 12 inches by 12 inches in size.
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350oF.
- Prepare your pie dough or use a commercial variety. Knead the dough and roll into a ball. Take two pieces of parchment paper or wax paper. Sprinkle some flour on one sheet and place your dough on top and pat down into a small circle. Sprinkle with more flour and cover with the second sheet of paper. Roll the dough into an 10-12 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Remove the top sheet. Lift the bottom sheet of parchment paper with the dough and carefully flip into a 8 or 9-inch tart pan. Carefully peel off the parchment paper and press dough into tart pan. Do not panic if the dough tears, you can press it back together. Trim the edges to 1/2 inch all around. Fold the edges under and crimp the dough.
- Core and cut the pears in thin, 1/8-inch wide slices. If they are organic, they do not need to be peeled. The skin has many nutrients to power up your pie. If the pears are not organic, you’ll want to peel them to remove some of the toxic residue from pesticides and herbicides.
- Spread the Apricot Butter evenly on the pie crust. Place the Pear Slices on top of the Apricot Butter. I like to line them up vertically, with the thin edge on the crust, starting at the outer edge and overlapping the slices until I reach the center, using the smaller pieces for the middle.
- Bake at 350oF for 40-45 minutes.
When we make our own crust there is always a little leftover to make a cookie. I added a few chocolate chips to make this one.