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Spiced Pear, Gorgonzola, and Toasted Walnut Pie in a Buttermilk Leaf Lard Crust

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From local pig fat to buttermilk, pears to raw milk to fresh eggs, the front porch to Dixie ballads, this afternoon pie is a little bit of Tendernessee from me to you.
Course Dessert
Keyword buttermilk, gorgonzola, pear, pie
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 1 9″ double crust pie

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups 313 g all purpose flour (divided in half)
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup 1 stick cold, unsalted butter, diced
  • 1/2 cup chilled leaf lard you can substitute butter or vegetable shortening here
  • 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp buttermilk

For Pear Pie Filling

  • 1/2 cup 2 oz walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
  • 5 firm pears peeled, cored & sliced thin, about 1/8″ (I use a handheld mandolin)
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tsp orange blossom water
  • 1/2 cup 100 g sugar
  • 1/4 cup 50 g dark brown sugar (light brown can be substituted)
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt
  • pinch of cayenne generous if you’re me
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1-2 oz gorgonzola dolce optional, use according to your taste
  • turbinado sugar for sprinkling
  • heavy cream for brushing

Instructions

  • Combine 1 1/4 cup (about 156 g) flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of standing mixer. Set aside the other 1 1/4 cup flour. With the mixer on low add the diced cold butter and bits of cold lard a handful at a time. Mix until thoroughly combined.
  • Add other half of flour. Mix until just combined. Add buttermilk and mix until dough just comes together. Divide dough in half. Place each half on a piece of plastic wrap, form into a disc, and chill at least to two hours (preferably 3) and up to one day. Dough can be frozen, wrapped tightly, up to three months at this point.

For Pear Pie Filling

  • Heat oven to 425° F.
  • Toss pears with the lemon juice and orange blossom water once sliced. Mix sugar, dark brown sugar, salt, cayenne, cinnamon, and cornstarch in a bowl to combine. Toss the pears to coat with the sugar and spice mixture.
  • Roll out one half of the crust to fit the bottom of a 9″ pie pan. Place dough in pan, trim edge to 1″, tuck under, and crimp. Fill the crust with layers of pears, sprinkling between layers with the toasted walnuts. Once the pie is filled, dot the top with gorgonzola cheese (if using).
  • Top pie with the other half of the pie crust. You can do any sort of design you like or just do a simple double crust. (This Martha Stewart how-to is a great resource for decorative pie crust ideas.) Brush top crust with heavy cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
  • Bake for 15 minutes at 425° and then reduce the heat to 375° and bake for another 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden and the filling is cooked through. After the first fifteen minutes, I use a crust shield on the edges of my pie to prevent it from getting too brown or burning. You can simply place aluminum foil over the outer crust to achieve this as well.
  • Cool on a rack & serve with a scoop of homemade oak & caramel ice cream for autumnal Tennessee in dessert form. Best shared, naturally, with friends.

Notes

For Buttermilk Leaf Lard Crust

This is my new favorite pie crust for sweet pastries (and for savory, simply omit sugar). If you don’t have a stand mixer the crust can be made the traditional way by simply mixing all the dry ingredients, cutting in the cold fat with a pastry cutter until it resembles course meal & no pieces larger than pea sized remain (there should be pieces of fat left though), and then mixing the buttermilk in until it just comes together when pinched being careful to not overmix.

For Pear Pie Filling

The gorgonzola and orange blossom water give what would otherwise be a rather rote filling a lot of personality. The traditional salty-sweet combo fares great in this sweet pie.