Rustic Pear Pie with Lard Crust Recipe
Seems like apple pie gets all the attention, doesn’t it? Pumpkin too. Not that we eat much pumpkin pie… why would we when Butternut Squash Pie is SO much better! (And they’re easier to grow.) Really, it’s not fair! Since there are so many other fine pies out there! Let’s add variety and interest to our lives! Take Pear Pie for example. Have you ever heard of making a Pear Pie? Probably not and it’s such a shame for it’s every bit as delicious as an apple pie!
Because I had never heard of it before. After I finally baked this simple, rustic Pear Pie with a Lard Crust for the first time, I wondered why it failed to garner any attention in our home before now. I love the sweet and spicy flavor, the interesting, grainy texture of the pears baked into a pie!
I prefer to bake these pies with a variety of pear that has a more firm, rather than melting texture. But I feel the same way about apples too. Because it turns out I’m just not partial to a mushy pie. I like to still have a bit of bite in my fruit. Both varieties that are common in the supermarket, Bartlett, and D’Anjou, work well. But that’s not to say you shouldn’t try it with whatever pears you have growing in your backyard or that you find at the farmer’s market. If you are growing a variety of pears in your backyard and they work well in a pie for you, you’ll have to let me know so I can consider adding them to our homestead orchard.
We always seem to move before our fruit trees are finally ready to start bearing. But one day I’ll have a homemade, scratch-baked pear pie made with fruit from our own tree! And it will be the best pear pie ever because homegrown food always is!
And if you’re looking for even more delicious pie recipes to add to your family cookbook, be sure to check out my ebook, Farmstead Pie! In it are ALL of my favorite tried-and-true pie recipes. Every single one! Along with some our friends best farm-fresh pie recipes too! Your taste buds (and your family) will thank you!
Recipe for Baking a Rustic Pear Pie with Lard Crust
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Pear Pie
A simple, rustic, pear pie recipe filled with sweet pear and cinnamon flavor between flaky layers of lard crust that might have you forgetting about apple pie.
- Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 recipe double pie crust (Try my flaky pie crust here.)
- ½ cup evaporated cane juice, or sugar (Buy cane juice here.)
- 3 Tablespoon flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, heaping
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 6 cups pears, peeled, chopped, sliced
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450.
- Sprinkle the prepared fruit with lemon juice to slow the oxidation process.
- Whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- Add the sugar mixture and vanilla into fruit, stirring well to cover fruit with the sugar mixture.
- Empty the bowl into a pastry lined pie plate.
- Dot with butter.
- Top with the remaining pie crust, sealing the edges with a bit of water. Flute the edges.
- Cut slits into the top crust to allow steam to vent.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Reduce temperature to 350 and bake for 35-40 more minutes or until fruit is tender.
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
Enjoy!
