Pear, Walnut and Stanford Cheese Galette

PASTRY

• 240 g  flour
• 120 g  cold butter, cubed
• 30 g walnuts, toasted and chopped finely (or use nutri-bullet to ground)
• 80 g Klein River Stanford cheese, finely grated
• Salt to taste and some black pepper
• 1 egg yolk
• 60 ml cold water

FILLING

• 6 ripe, firm pears, cut into wedges
• 40 g butter
• 30 ml honey
• 30 ml castor sugar
• 15 ml lemon juice
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2,5 ml ground cinnamon
• 60 g toasted walnuts, lightly chopped

TO SERVE

• 1 egg, beaten, for brushing
• drizzle of honey
• crème fraiche for serving
• thyme leaves for garnish

METHOD:

TO MAKE THE PASTRY:

TO MAKE THE FILLING: 

1. Heat the butter in a pan.  Add pears, honey, sugar, lemon juice, zest and cinnamon.
2. Sauté gently for 5–7 minutes until just softened but not mushy. 
3. Cool.

TO ASSEMBLE:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Roll pastry out into a rough circle ± 30 cm).
3. Place on a baking paper lined baking tray.  Spoon pear mixture into the centre, leaving a 4–5 cm border and sprinkle the toasted walnuts over the filling.
4. Fold the edges of the pastry over the filling (rustic is perfect) and brush edges with beaten egg.
5. Bake for ±25 minutes until golden and crisp.

TO SERVE: 

Drizzle with honey while still warm and add a few extra cheese shavings and thyme if you like a savoury edge OR serve warm with crème fraîche or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.