Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

It feels so good to be cooking again after such a long hiatus. I a, of course spoiling you with another Christmas themed bake, it is my favourite time of year! This tart could use up any left over Christmas stilton you have lying around, or if you have none left (likely), it gives you an excuse to buy more, because as I've said before Christmas is really all about cheese. This pear, stilton and walnut quiche is a lovely vegetarian option to a Christmas feast.

Ingredients

375g shortcrust pastry
50g walnuts
4 shallots
Thyme leaves
100g Stilton
3 pears
6 eggs
Salt and Pepper

Putting it all Together

Preheat the oven to 200c/180fan/gas mark 6

In a food processor, whizz the walnuts until they are broken up to a crumb. Keep a little of the pastry back and then add the remaining shortcrust pastry in chunks. Blitz together until the pastry has broken down and then come back together with all the walnut crumb, giving you a lovely walnut pastry.

Using the pastry, line a fluted tart tin, pressing gently into the sides and allow the excess pastry to hang over the edges. Cover this with clingfilm and pop in the fridge to chill.

While the pastry is chilling, heat a frying pan with a little oil add in the sliced shallots and thyme with salt and pepper. Cook these on high until the onions sizzle and then turn down to low. Cook the shallots for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and golden. Set aside.

Remove tin from the fridge and remove the cling film. Fill the tin with baking paper and baking beans and place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the baking paper and beans before baking for a further 5 minutes or until golden.

Reduce the temperature to 160c/140fan gas mark 3 and take the tart out of the oven.

While the pastry is still hot, use a sharp knife to cut the pastry flush to the rim of the tin and then fill the pastry with the caramelised onions.

Cut two of the pears into cubes and slice one of the pears lengthwise. Top the onion with the cubed pear and sprinkle over the stilton. Decorate the top with your sliced pear. With the pastry you saved earlier roll out and cut out a little partridge to sit on top.

Whisk the eggs and season before pouring around the sliced pears to cover the ingredients underneath. Pop bake in the oven to bake for around 20 minutes until golden.

This can be eaten straight out of the oven or served cold. A gorgeous quiche that mixes the sweetness of the pear with the savoury of the stilton and walnut. A very Merry Christmas indeed!