Pear and Chestnut Strudel

Ingredients:

4 pears

100g caster sugar

200ml water

1 cinnamon stick

200g chestnuts

1 pack of puff pastry

2 egg yolks

Method:

Roast the chestnuts at 180 for 15 minutes, allow to cool before shelling and peeling.

Make a sugar syrup by dissolving the sugar into the water in a hot pan. Peel, halve and core the pears, then add carefully to the sugar syrup. Add the cinnamon stick. Cook until tender. Remove the pears and cinnamon from the cooking syrup and set aside. Return half the syrup to the heat and reduce until thick. In a bowl dice the pears and add the reduced syrup back in.

Cook the chestnuts in the remaining sugar syrup until very tender. Blend into a firm paste.

Roll out the puff pastry. Spread the chestnut puree in the centre, lengthways, allowing a 10cm pasty border either side; lay out the pears on top. Bring the pastry edges on top, sealing them together with the egg yolk. Roll the ends in to make a tight seal. Cut slits it the top of the strudel and eggwash it before baking for 40 minutes at 180 degrees or until the pastry has well risen.