Brian Turner's Mincemeat, Pear & Honey Tart

If you were at the BBC Good Food Show, Winter edition, you may have seen some celebrity chefs cooking up a storm on the Stoves Kitchen. The following recipe was demonstrated by Brian Turner. This simple yet effective recipe would be a show stopper for dessert this Christmas. The aromatic smells, juicy pears and crisp puff pastry work perfectly together. And the finishing touches of speckles of green from the pistachios and dusting of icing sugar make it look like a winter wonderland.

Please find the recipe and other delights on http://www.stoves.co.uk/conversation/recipes?page=2

Serves 6-8
Prep time 40 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Temperature 180 fan















Ingredients

• 1lb/450g of puff pastry
• 4 pears, peeled and cored
• 150ml water
• 150g sugar
• Juice of half a lemon
• Cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 6oz/180g mincemeat
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 2tbsp chopped pistachio nuts
• 1 egg, whisked
• Icing sugar

Method

1. Peel and core the pears ready for poaching,
2. Place the water, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon stick and star anise in a pan- bring to the boil until the sugar has dissolved. Pop in the pears, cover with parchment paper/foil and poach for 10 minutes. Once cooked let cool,
3. Roll out your pastry so it is about 1/4 of a cm thick and 25cm in diameter. I used a tray as a template, ensuring that there was excess pastry to form the edge. Prick the centre with a fork,
4. Spread the mincemeat across the pastry. Half your pears, and place on top, making sure the 'stalk' end is facing the centre,
5. Brush the pears with honey and the pastry with the egg,
6. Bake for 20 minutes @180 fan
7. Once baked, sprinkle with chopped pistachios and dust with icing sugar.

Tips:

• Use any left over pastry and mince meat to make mini mince pies.
• Keep the poaching liquid from the pears. Use it as a base to making mulled wine or add into whipped cream to serve with the tart.