Pear Croustade

We canned pears this weekend and had a few left over so I've been looking for recipes to use them in so they don't go to waste. This is a simple pie that's quite tasty. It's from the California Pears website which has lots of recipes that look good. If you're looking to use up some pears, check 'em out. :) Also, I didn't have any apricot preserves so I used peach preserves and that worked just great.

Bartlett Pear Croustade

Pastry for a single pie crust

4 ripe, but firm, Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and sliced

1/4 C apricot preserves

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

3/4 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping

2 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay pastry flat on a large parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside. Place pears in a medium bowl and add preserves, brown sugar, cornstarch, extract and cinnamon; toss well to coat pears. Mound pears in the center of the pastry and gather up the edges to form a 2-inch rim of pastry around the outside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, butter and brown sugar until crumbly; sprinkle over the opening of the pie and top with almonds. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool for at least 30 minutes to firm up the filling before cutting.