There’s nothing like finding out on a Friday that there’s a rainfall warning for the upcoming weekend.
I’m not even being sarcastic – I spent last Friday in an eager excitement for the weekend just because I knew it was going to rain buckets. I love the rain, and I love it even more when I don’t have to venture out in it and can just cozy on up inside with tea, my Lola-bean (one of her many nicknames), and a good book.
Oh, and it was also our Canadian Thanksgiving, which meant there was also lots of time spent with good company, eating copious amounts of stuffing. And turkey. But mainly stuffing.
While this galette didn’t appear on our Thanksgiving tables (what’s Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?), it certainly did impress. I think I actually gasped when it came out of the oven because, well, it’s gorgeous.
I love baking galettes even more than baking pie. They are so low-maintenance and always turn out looking like something from a rustic country magazine, no matter what you put in them. They look like they took hours to make, even though they take no time at all.
They’re cozy, comforting, and nostalgic. Perfect for rainy weekends.
This recipe combines juicy fall pears, savory ricotta cheese, crunchy walnuts and a sweet drizzle of honey. It tastes as good as it sounds.
I’m new to ricotta cheese. I had it for the first time only recently, and I think I’ve been missing out. I would never have thought to put cheese in a pie-like dessert, but ricotta is special in that it doesn’t really tastes like cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some cheese, but ricotta is more creamy and sweet, making it wonderful for savoury dishes while also complimenting sweeter flavours.
If you’re skeptical about ricotta cheese and pears, trust me, it tastes divine.
The crust… what can I say about this crust, other than I love it? It’s dense enough to keep the bottom from becoming soggy from the filling, yet light enough to stay melt-in-your-mouth flakey and sweet. Glazing the crust with an egg white before baking will give it a crispier, pastry-like shell, but I prefer it unglazed and baked to perfection. At least in this recipe, anyway.
Apples would be wonderful in this recipe as well.
While this may seem more like a dessert recipe, it’s equally as delicious, warm or cold, on a rainy, brooding Sunday morning. 
| Caramelized Pear & Ricotta Galette with Walnuts & Honey | | Print |
- Crust:
- 1⅓ cups + 3 Tbsp flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) frozen butter, grated
- 5 Tbsp ice water
- .
- Filling:
- 5 bosc pears, sliced thin
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 200g ricotta cheese
- ⅓ cup walnut pieces
- Honey, to serve
- In food processor, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add in butter and pulse until crumbly. Pour water over mixture and pulse until a crumbly dough forms. Remove from processor, roll into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Toss pears with brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; roll dough into a 12-inch circle on top of the baking sheet. Sprinkle a thin layer of flour on top of the dough to prevent the crust from getting soggy.
- Spread ricotta evenly over dough, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge. Top with pears, fold over edges, and bake 30-40 minutes until pears have caramelized and crust has browned. Remove from oven and let cool before slicing. Top with walnuts and a generous drizzle of honey.
Okay…seriously. Another stellar recipe! This looks absolutely delicious! You have a way of presenting your incredible recipes to the point you can almost taste them! 🙂 I am sooo making this. Question: Can you use a blender, if you don’t have a food processor? 😀
Hi Sher, you can use a blender as long as you have a gentler ‘pulse’ setting, although it might yield different results. You don’t want to blend the mixture too much, just until the butter combines with the flour until crumbly. If in doubt, I’d cut the butter in with a pastry cutter (or fork) instead.
I’ve made this recipe at least 10 times now, it is perfect as it is. All the variations that I have tried are not as good as the original. Thanks you so much for posting this!
Aw, thanks for the feedback, Mary! I am so happy that you like it! 😀
Can I use mascarpone instead of ricotta? Also could o use tinned pears instead of fresh. Drooling whilst reading your recipe and dying to make this but trying to work with what I have in my pantry.
Hi Saher, use what you’ve got! The recipe will be a tad richer with mascarpone, and you might experience slightly more ‘melting’ of the interior but by all means- use what you’ve got and let us know how it turns out! Same goes with tinned pears- if you can pat them dry, as they will hold more liquid than fresh pears anyway, and your filling might be a little more watery, but I’m sure it’ll still taste great.
Thanks so much for replying! So I went ahead with the mascarpone and tinned pears. Topped it off with caramelized walnuts and drizzled honey and it’s absolutely fab. Rich creaminess with fragrant pear, walnut crunch and honey warmth. Thanks for your encouraging response, it gave he the impetus to go ahead and try it.