This is a rustic tart, using Bosc or Bartlett pears (great cooking pears) that have been pre-baked with ginger, sugar, and butter, giving them a wonderful caramelized flavor in the tart. Their buttery sweetness offsets the crisp tartness of the whole cranberries. I got the idea from a pear crostata recipe in The Boston Globe. That recipe, which I made and is fabulous, uses pear halves and layers the pears and cranberries on top of frangipane. I did find the Globe’s recipe a bit too fussy, along with taking the better part of a day to make. So, this is my simpler version, still the same wonderful mix of flavors, but with a little less effort. A note on the crust. In my opinion, a pie is just an excuse to eat a fantastic homemade butter crust. These days you can buy frozen flat crusts, but if you haven’t made a homemade crust, I strongly encourage you to try it. You can make dough rounds ahead of time and freeze them, making it convenient to roll-out whenever you want to make a pie. Roast for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the pears are tender when pierced with a fork, and starting to get brown and caramelized around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool. Fold up the edges over the fruit, pleating the crust around the edges, leaving most of the fruit exposed in the center. Cool on a rack for at least an hour before serving. Roasted pear and cranberry crostada - from the Boston Globe
