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Ingredients
- 4 large firm-ripe Bosc pears (2 pounds total)
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pastry dough
Method
- Peel and halve pears, the core (preferably with a melon-ball cutter).
- Heat butter in a 9- to 10-inch well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then stir in sugar (sugar will not be dissolved).
- Arrange pears, cut sides up, in skillet with wide parts at rim of skillet.
- Sprinkle pears with cinnamon and cook, undisturbed, until sugar turns a deep golden caramel.
- (This can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as 25, depending on pears, skillets, and stove.)
- Cool pears completely in skillet.
- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425F.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round and trim to a 9 1/2- to 10 1/2-inch round.
- Arrange pastry over caramelized pears, tucking edge around pears inside rim of skillet.
- Bake tart until pastry is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Cook on rack 5 minutes.
- Invert a rimmed serving plate (slightly larger than skillet) over skillet and, using pot holders to hold skillet and plate tightly together, invert tart onto plate.
- Serve tart warm or at room temperature.
