Pear Strudel

We have a pear tree in our front yard that  bear’s an abundance of fruit each and every year.  I freeze and can most of the fruit so I can prepare dishes throughout the year. This dish is adapted from an apple strudel recipe that I found in Dr. Weil’s and Rosie Daley’s recipe book “The Healthy Kitchen”.   I simplified the recipe using puff pastry in lieu of phyllo sheets.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt butter in large skillet; add  maple syrup, cinnamon and lemon juice.
3. Add sliced pears and stir; saute over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until pears are tender.Mix the cornstarch with the water together in a small bowl until pasty.
4. Stir into the pears, and simmer, covered on low heat until the mixture becomes thick.
5. Stir in the honey, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
6. Remove from the heat to cool.
7. Once cooled, add the mixture to a blender and pulse  to breakdown the pears to  a consistency of a thick jam.
8. Put parchment paper on counter and sprinkle with flour; lay 1 sheet of puff pastry on parchment and flour both sides.
9. Roll to increase size of rectangle slightly.
10. Spread pear mixture lengthwise leaving about 1″ at each end.
11. Using the parchment as a guide, take the long edge of parchment and lift until the puff begins to roll.
12. Continue lifting and rolling until you have completely rolled up.  Take fork and crimp each end.
13. Lift roll by picking up parchment and putting on a baking sheet.  Turn log so the seam is facing down.
14. Brush puff pastry with a mixture of egg and milk.  Sprinkle with sparking sugar.
15. Repeat steps 8-14 with 2nd puff pastry.
16. Bake for 30-45-minutes or until puffed and brown.
17. Slice and serve with whipped cream.

Note:  I sometimes have extra amount of the pear mixture.  I keep in the refrigerator to serve with biscuits or place in a small baking dish and top with a mixture of oatmeal, butter and brown sugar; see pear crumble recipe.  Bake for 30 minutes.