chocolate and pear tart

ingredients:

• a pack of ready-made shortcrust pastry
• 125g ground almonds
• 2 large free-range or organic eggs
• 125g butter, softened
• 95g caster sugar
• 185g dark chocolate, melted
• 3 conference pears, peeled, cored and quartered
• crème fraîche, to serve

methods:
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Roll out the pastry until ½cm thick and use it to line a 24cm tart tin. Leave in the freezer to rest for at least 20 minutes, or longer if you can.

Bake the pastry blind for around 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then remove, set aside, and reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/325°F/gas 3.

Mix your almonds, eggs, butter and sugar together and stir in the melted chocolate while it’s still warm. Pour the mixture evenly into the pastry case and then press the pears into the chocolate and almond mixture.

Bake the tart for 45 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the chocolate and almond mixture is firm. Serve warm with crème fraîche