beautiful and delicious g-f pear tart

Recipe from Brooke, pic by Mary...

i improvised the g/f part... but it was based on this Smitten Kitchen recipe:
Pear and Almond Tart

Pears
4 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 medium-size firm but ripe Bosc pears, (each about 7 ounces)

Almond Filling
2/3 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 tablespoon brown rice flour
½ c maple syrup
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 sweet tart shell, baked (recipe: the crust was essentially 3/4 stick butter, 1.5 cups rice flour, handful of almonds finely ground, one egg yolk and some honey a pinch of salt, and some fresh ginger food processed.
i didn't roll the dough.. just mushed it into the tart pan. make the sides double thick. Prebake for 20-25 mins.)

For pears: Bring 4 cups water and lemon juice to boil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pears. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until pears are very tender, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool pears.

For almond filling: Finely grind almonds and flour in processor. Mix in maple syrup then butter and flavorings (if using). Blend until smooth. Mix in egg. Transfer filling to medium bowl. Cover and chill at least 3 hours. (resembled cake batter consistency... i think i added some of the pear cooking liquid to get it to look like the texture in the picture on the blog. mine was thicker.... i cheated and pre-cooked this in a sauce pan to thicken it up before assembling.)

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spread almond filling evenly in baked tart crust. Stem pears and cut each in half lengthwise; scoop out cores. Cut each half crosswise into thin slices. Gently press each pear half to fan slices but keep slices tightly overlapped. Slide spatula under pears and arrange atop filling like spokes of wheel with narrow ends in center.

Bake tart until golden and tester inserted into center of filling comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool tart in pan on rack. Push pan bottom up, releasing tart from pan. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Cut tart into wedges; sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired, and serve.

Thanks, Brooke!