When I was a kid, I didn't much like turkey. I've always preferred nice moist dark poultry meat, and turkey is so much drier than chicken that it just wasn't a favorite of anyone in my family when I was growing up. So we stopped serving turkey for holidays when I was a kid, and alternated between duck and goose instead. Now that's flavorful meat!

But duck and goose are expensive and not always available, and lately I've begun to appreciate turkey for its distinctive flavor, more interesting than chicken by far. We don't traditionally have Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner at our house, so we don't get turkey leftovers that way. But hey, who says you can only cook turkeys for holidays? Our local coop has locally-raised turkeys, and sells some of it fresh in packaged pieces, so I picked up some thighs the other day and baked them. After we enjoyed a meal of turkey meat, I used the leftovers for this tart. We both liked it. It has a nice blend of flavors and textures, and the sour cream makes a smooth, satisfying sauce without making it heavy.

Now, the Huz doesn't care for blue cheeses of any variety, even mild gorgonzola. So I had to make half the tart with another cheese, in this case some shredded Swiss I had on hand. Just like a half-and-half pizza, I split the ingredients in two and added Swiss to one half of the mixture, gorgonzola to the other, and carefully piled them in separate halves of the tart. It worked out great!

Here's the recipe, adapted from CooksCountry.com.

Turkey & pear tart

1 9-inch round pie crust (prepared is OK, although I made my own tonight)
2 c leftover turkey meat, cut into bite-size pieces
¾ c crumbled cheese (gorgonzola, blue, swiss), divided
3 large or 4 medium firm pears, peeled, cored, and diced
¼ c pecans, toasted and chopped
¼ c dried cranberries (I used dried cherries and would have liked more)
1 c light sour cream
3 T light cream
1 T minced fresh thyme
salt & pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
   
2. Gently press pie crust into 9-inch tart pan and trim excess dough with knife. Prick bottom of dough all over with tines of fork. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
3. Combine turkey, 1/2 c cheese, pears, cranberries, sour cream, cream, and thyme in large bowl. Season with salt & pepper. Transfer mixture to cooled pie crust, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.
4. Bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Let cool up to 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
   

The tart can be refrigerated for 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving.