Pear and Medjool Date Croustade
By: Nina
Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - 8:25pm

Ingredients




Crust Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar( the recipe calls for powdered sugar)
1/3 cup cornmeal
10 tablespoons cold butter( cut into cubes)
1 chilled large egg,divided
Filling:
3 large Anjou Pears, peeled,cored each cut into 8 wedges
3 tablespoon sugar
1 tablsepoon all purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
7 large medjool dates, pitted and torn into strips
1 ½ teaspoon turbinado sugar

Preparation

1 CRUST: Blend flour,sugar,cornmeal and salt in a processor. Add butter,using on/off turns process until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add all but 2 tablespoon of butter( reserved for glaze),using on/offs turns,process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into a ball,flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes. 2 FILLING: Preheat oven to 375F. Toss pear wedges with sugar,flour,cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl.Roll out the disc in between two parchment which is lightly floured to form a 14 inch round.Slide crust into a baking sheet,remove the top layer of parchment. Arrange 2/3 of pear mixture over crust,leaving about 2 inch plain border. Arrange date strips amongst pears. Top with remaining pear slices. Using parchment as aid,fold edges of crust up over pear mixture,creating border. Brush crust edge with some of remaining egg and sprinkle crust with raw sugar. 3 Bake until crust is golden brown and filling bubbles thickly in center,about 45 minutes to an hour. Cool until warm.