Pear Crisp

Today I made pear crisp for the family. This is my second new recipe to try since giving birth (the first was a potato gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce which ended up being pretty good). The crisp below was very quick to whip up, and as expected, quite tasty with vanilla ice cream.


Pear Crisp
Courtesy of CI

3/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts (3 ounces), see note above
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (2 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Table salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
3 pounds ripe but firm pears (6-7 medium), see note above

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Process nuts, flour, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in food processor until nuts are finely chopped, about nine 1-second pulses. Drizzle butter over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles crumbly wet sand, about five 1-second pulses, pausing halfway through to scrape down sides and bottom of workbowl. Set aside while preparing fruit.
2. Whisk remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and pinch of salt together in large bowl. Peel pears, then halve and core each (see illustrations below). Cut each half into 4 wedges and then cut in half crosswise (pieces should be about 1 1/2 inches). Gently toss pears with sugar mixture and transfer to 8-inch-square baking dish.
3. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks. Bake until fruit is bubbling around edges and topping is deep golden brown, 27 to 32 minutes. Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 minutes, and serve.