So I’m thinking about coming up with a series of recipes based on what’s leftover in my refrigerator and cabinets, and I just happen to have some pears, almond meal and ganache leftover so it was easy to come up with this recipe. I did do a thing quite a few years ago called “eating through the kitchen cabinets,” because I just had so much stuff leftover after cooking all day. I do realize that I most likely have more bizarre and just more of leftovers in general than most regular folks, but regardless it’s good to get inspiration on how to use up stuff that they already have.
I’m sure a lot of you are wondering just what on earth I do for a living lol. I admit I have a weird gig and sometimes it’s hard to even explain to people. In short I work as someone who does recipe development through photography and video for specific brands and their websites and social media pages, and then I do the same thing for this website for brands or just for myself. In addition, as of late I’ve begun to work with a local burger chain to help enhance their menu and creating some new menu items for them, which has been super exciting for me. It allows me to keep one foot in the restaurant industry without having to deal with the punishing lifestyle that accommodates such a vocation. I know it’s weird, I get it and it and sometimes I have to pinch myself because I feel I have the coolest job on earth. I mean after all I make recipes, work with cool brands, get to try out new products and take pictures or videos of them. Dope right?! So with all that being said I cook every single day and there is ALWAYS something leftover or some ingredients that I accidentally bought too much of, hence why I think it makes sense to come up with a series of recipes like this one!
I had to make a pear tart for The Inspired Home and I wanted it to be bright and colorful so I decided to poach the pears with white wine. Well with that I had extra pears, a bottle of red wine lying around, along with plenty of leftover almond meal from the frangipane, and lastly some ganache from a dessert a made last week. Yup, the ingredients are random but perfect to make this Red Wine Poached Pear Tart with Ganache Frangipane Recipe. I used to poach pears in red wine all the time for the restaurant I worked at back in St. Louis so this was really easy to do. You poach pears in red wine until the color of the pear is deep red and the pear is tender. It’s best to do this over low heat to allow enough time for the wine to penetrate the peeled flesh of the pear. From there you can cool the pears in the poaching liquid or remove and further cook down the poaching liquid. I did that later because I was kind of in a time crunch.
Since I had already made frangipane for the white wine poached pears I made over on The Inspired Home, I simply doubled the recipe so I wouldn’t have any leftover almond meal sitting around for months. Frangipane is like an almond butter paste that is so flippin delicious your mouth will explode… Not really, but it’s dang good. Since red wine poached pears go really REALLY well with chocolate I figured I would use the rest of my leftover ganache from a pumpkin dessert I made last week and fold it into the frangipane to make a ganache frangipane recipe. I don’t even know if this is a thing but it’s ridonkulously good. Chocolate goes amazing with red wine pears and almonds making this a really balance dessert.
Now that 2 of the main components have been secured I also just doubled the same almond crust to finish off this recipe. Par-bake the crust, add in the ganache frangipane and bake away until it’s cooked. To finish I sliced the bottom of the gorgeous red wine poached pears and pushed them into the ganache frangipane and cooled it completely in the refrigerator. For the garnish I used sliced almonds and orange zest, powdered sugar and some of the leftover reduced poaching liquid. DUDE, so good! I’ll do everything I can to keep this thing going – hope you like it and that it helps you get inspired to use up your leftovers!
Red Wine Poached Pear Tart with Ganache Frangipane Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pears:
- 5 peeled bosc pears
- 1 bottle of merlot
- 1 wine bottle filled up with water
- 2 cups of sugar
- zest and juice from 2 oranges plus grated for garnish
- 2 cinnamon stick
- For the Frangipane:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- ¾ cup of almond flour
- ½ cup of sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 3 tablespoons of flour
- ½ cup leftover chocolate canache melted
For the Crust:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 1 cup of almond flour
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 2 to 4 tablespoons of ice cold water
Instructions
- Put the peeled pears, red wine, water, sugar, orange zest, orange juice and cinnamon sticks in a large pot and cook over low heat until the pears are a deep red and tender.
- Remove the pears, place them on a plate and chill them completely. Strain the poaching liquid in a chinois and cook over medium heat until it becomes thick like a syrup, about 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the liquid to a container and also chill it completely.
- Frangipane: Combine all of the ingredients into a standing mixer with the whip attachment and whip on high speed until it becomes light and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.
- Next, fold in the melted ganache until completely combined and chill in the refrigerator until cold.
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- The Crust: Add the butter, almond meal, flour and sugar to a food processor and pulse until the butter is cut in. Add water as needed to tighten up the dough.
- transfer the crust dough to a long spring form pan and press the dough to the bottom and sides until it is molded to the pan. Place a sheet of parchment paper overtop and add some dried beans on top of the parchment and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10 minutes. Turn the pan as needed to brown evenly.
- Remove the pan from the oven and evenly spread on the ganache frangipane. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
- While the tart is cooking slice off about ½” from the bottom of the pear to flatten it out.
- After it is done cooking, press the 5 pears into the bottom of the pan with stems pointing up.
- Cool the tart completely and garnish with sliced almonds, orange zest, powdered sugar and left over poaching liquid.
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