Pear Strudel

I was thinking of doing this with the crust from the egg tarts, which is a cheaty version of puff pastry.  Then I went for the ultimate cheat of buying puff pastry in the freezer section.

Puff pastry in general is a great way to make an impressive baked good with minimal effort.  There's a channel on YouTube that's just a loop of ideas how to use it.

This super-simple recipe from Mr. Food allows you to use canned pears, which I happened to pick up on my pre-surgery shop and then not open.  Got better much faster than I expected.  So instead, I made it during quarantine.  If I could muster up the energy to make a strudel while recovering from Covid, that should tell you it isn't all that hard.

The original recipe uses two cans of pears and a full sheet of pastry.  I opted in these photos to cut the sheet in half and only use one can, but I'm giving you the recipe for the full sheet.  I turned the other half into some feta twists.  Look for them in an upcoming post.

1 sheet puff pastry (half a box)
1/3 C sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
*2 15oz cans pears
*1/3 C raisins
*1/4 C chopped walnuts
1 egg

1.  Defrost pastry sheet according to package directions, roughly 45 minutes.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.  Start preheating oven to 400º

2.  Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Drain pears and chop into bite-sized pieces.  Combine in a bowl with raisins, walnuts, and half of the cinnamon sugar.  Beat egg with 1 Tb water in a small bowl to make an egg wash.

3.  Roll out pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface just enough to minimize the folds.  Make slits in the two outer folds about 1" wide.  Transfer pastry to baking sheet.

4.  Pour filling down center section of pastry.  Weave the slits over the top, securing with egg wash.  Brush egg wash over entire pastry and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar.

5.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until puffed and golden.  Allow to cool before slicing.

Serves 8

Difficulty rating  π