Penelope's Recipe Box

After the mashed-up Gerber variety, pears tend not to make a return appearance in people’s lives until they’re old enough to move past the primary colors of apples, bananas and blueberries, and appreciate the Edwardian low tones and subtle flavor of the pear. Not that Penelope means to be one of those foodie writer types whose description of the perfect Pear Pie with Red Current Glaze might get her nominated for a National Book Award. It’s just that when she made this recipe it just happened to strike a chord with an unusually sophisticated man who Penelope really wanted to impress. And the pie did work. After dessert, as they walked on the beach, which was much too cold for Penelope despite all her L.L. Bean precautions because it was after all, February, his eyes were definitely starting to glaze over. And not just from all the red currants. But when the conversation got around to where Penelope had gone to high school, even the Cole Porter of pies couldn’t erase the unfortunate image of the fifth stop from Manhattan after you changed at Jamaica on the Long Island Railroad. Penelope’s Ultimate Pie Crust for a single crust pie. Par-bake for 15 minutes at 400°. Turn the oven down to 375° to bake the rest of the pie

The Filling

1. 1 tbs fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2. 2 pounds pears
3. ¼ cup sugar
4. 2 tbs all-purpose flour
5. 2 tbs unsalted butter, melted
6. 4 tsp cassis
7. ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
8. pinch ground cloves
9. pinch salt
10. ⅓ cup currant jam

Pour the lemon juice into a large bowl

Peel, halve, and core the pears, removing the stem and fiber

Slice into the bowl

In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, flour, butter, cassis, cinnamon, cloves, and salt

Add this mixure to the pears just before baking

Pour the filling into the bottom crust

Put the pie on a baking sheet and cover loosely with foil

Bake at 375° for at least 30 minutes or until the pears are tender

Cool the pie for at least 1 hour