Tasty triangular slices enclosed in charming circular pies. No matter how you cut it, the season for pie is here. We tapped some of the city’s finest piece makers for recipes.

Salted Caramel Pear Pie

Fran Kolenik, owner of Drive-By Pies in Brookline, always uses fresh fruit, so winter can pose a bit of a problem. Luckily, Anjou pears provide a decadent solution for pie fillings. Drizzled with a warm caramel sauce, her salted caramel pear pie is a play on the more familiar apple pie. “Pear seemed a natural fruit to add to my repertoire,” Kolenik says. “They are creamier than apples and a little sweeter.”

Crust:
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening
2/3 cup cold butter
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup cold water

Salted Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon sea or kosher salt

Filling:
2 1/2 pounds Anjou pears, peeled, cored and diced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour or tapioca starch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the salted caramel sauce, heat the sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, continuously stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar turns into an amber liquid. Once the sugar melts, add the butter and whisk until melted. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salt.For the crust, combine the vegetable shortening, butter, flour and salt in a stand mixer at medium speed for about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer and add in the egg, vinegar and cold water until combined, being careful not to overmix. Form into two balls, wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, sprinkle the pears with lemon juice and toss with sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Roll out the bottom and top crusts and fit a 9- or 10-inch crust into a pie dish. Fill the pie dish with the pear filling. Pour 1/4 cup of the salted caramel over the filling. Cover with the top crust and crimp and vent the top crust, brushing it with cold water. Cover the crust’s edge with a pie-crust protector or aluminum foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, and then turn down the oven to 350 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes until golden. Remove the pie from the oven and drizzle another 1/4 cup of salted caramel over the top while it’s still hot.

LIFE OF PIE: Salted Caramel Pie | Banana Cream PieMississippi Mud PieCranberry Bakewell PiePilgrim Pie | S’mores PieSweet Potato PieApple Rye PiePumpkin PieBourbon Caramel Pecan Pie 


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