Pears, Blue Cheese and Hazelnuts do I need to say any more?

Here is another recipe I adapted from the Cook to Books January challenge from  Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan.  The original recipe was a Gorgonzola-Apple Quiche and to make it a Fresh From Oregon taste I made it with pears and an Oregon blue cheese and added hazelnuts to the crust.   I was at the Portland Farmers Winter Market this past Saturday and picked up a few really nice ripe pears.  If you want the best blue cheese in Oregon then you need the Rogue Creamery Blue Cheese.  It has a high price per pound but worth it and you only need 2 ounce in this quiche and you will taste the difference. I decided to make this for lunch yesterday and serve to my husband and son and was ready for the reaction “Quiche” is not a man’s meal.  But to my surprise they both enjoyed it and ate every bite.  I served it with a mixed greens tossed salad and dried cranberries and my homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette and topped it with some candied walnuts.  Enjoy my version below and let me know how you like it.

Pear and Blue Cheese Quiche with Hazelnut Crust
Hazelnut Tart Dough
1 1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill white flour
2 Tablespoon hazelnuts, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoon butter, cold
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon water, cold

I made my dough in the food processor really quick and easy.  Place flour, hazelnuts, sugar and salt in bowl of food processor with the blade attachment.  Pulse a few times to mix, add the butter in small pieces and pulse again to make smaller pieces.   Add egg and water and pulse until the dough holds together when pinched.  I found I needed to add another teaspoon of cold water since I added in the hazelnuts.  Dump the dough onto the counter and gather together into a ball and flatten to a disk shape.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, I refrigerated my dough over night.  To bake the dough I lightly floured my counter and sprinkled some flour on the top of the dough and rolled it out to slightly bigger than my tart pan.  Place the dough in a 9-inch tart pan and gently press into the bottom and up the sides taking off any extra dough along the side.  With a fork prick the bottom crust in several places.  I lined the crust with foil and added beans to keep the bottom and side in place while it baked.  Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, remove foil and bake another 3 minutes.  Place on wire rack to cool.

Pear and Blue Cheese filling
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
salt & pepper, to taste
1 pear, peeled and diced small
2 ounces Rogue Creamery Blue Cheese
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs, (I used 1 more egg than the original recipe used)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and add the onion and salt & pepper to taste.  Cook until slightly brown, about 5 minutes.  Spread the onions in the bottom of the hazelnut tart shell.  Evenly spread the pears and then the blue cheese over the onions.  In small bowl beat the heavy cream and eggs, season with salt and pepper, pour over the pears and blue cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes or until brown or a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Set on rack for at least 5 minutes to set the eggs completely.  The Fresh From Oregon Quiche is ready to serve, enjoy.

Recipe adapted from: Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan