Dan Lepard's pear pastis recipe

The traditional apple version of this dish from south-west France uses dessert apples. Pears poached in red wine give a different result, subtle and lovely when served with cold crème fraîche. You’ll have a batch of syrup left over: use it in a fruit compôte or for more pear poaching. 7 or 8 rock-hard pears 375ml red wine (any sort) 250g caster sugar, plus more for sprinkling 50g butter, salted or not 3-4 large sheets filo (about half a 270g pack) Toasted chopped hazelnuts Icing sugar Peel, quarter lengthways and core the pears, then place in a saucepan with the wine and caster sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently until the pears are slightly tender but not too soft. Place a plate on top of them once the pan is off the heat, to keep them submerged as they cool. Finally, drain the pears free of syrup. Melt the butter, then take a 20cm round tart tin and brush the inside with butter. Take one sheet of filo, brush lightly with butter, sprinkle with caster sugar and hazelnuts, fold in half, then tuck it into the tart case. Repeat this with another sheet of filo. Spoon in the pears, fold the filo edges inwards, then butter another filo sheet, sprinkle with sugar and nuts, crumple and press it on top. Bake at 180C (160C fan-assisted)/350F/gas mark 4 for 30-40 minutes, until golden. Dust with icing sugar to serve. danlepard.com/guardian