Puff Pastries with Pears and Speck

The puff pastries with pears and speck are a tasty sweet-savory combination that unites the freshness of the pears with the savoriness of the speck. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 roll of rectangular puff pastry
• 2 ripe but firm pears
• 100 g of speck in thin slices
• 100 g of cheese like Brie or Camembert
• A few knobs of butter
• Honey to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• A sprig of rosemary (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
2. Roll out the puff pastry and cut it into squares or rectangles about 10 cm in size.
3. Wash and slice the pears thinly, leaving or removing the skin according to your preference.
4. Arrange the pear slices on the puff pastry squares, leaving a free border of about 1 cm. If you like, you can add a touch of chopped rosemary to flavor.
5. Add slices of speck and pieces of cheese on each pastry.
6. Season with a pinch of salt, a grind of pepper, and a drizzle of honey to enhance the flavors.
7. Add a small knob of butter on top of each pastry.
8. Slightly fold the edges of the puff pastry upwards to prevent the filling from coming out during baking.
9. Bake and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry becomes golden and crispy.
10. Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes before serving.

The puff pastries with pears and speck can be served both as an appetizer and as a main dish, accompanied by a fresh salad or as an aperitif. The contrast between the sweetness of the pears and the saltiness of the speck is a classic example of how opposites attract in the kitchen.

Trivia

Speck is a type of smoked raw ham typical of Alto Adige. Its processing includes a cold smoking phase and an aging phase that gives speck that unique and unmistakable flavor, perfect to be paired with sweet fruits like pears.