Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F and remove puff pastry from the freezer to thaw slightly.

While pastry is thawing, prep other ingredients and crumble bleu cheese.

Add onions and olive oil to a skillet set over medium heat and cook slowly, stirring often, until they are softened, about five minutes.

Add salt and brown sugar, cover and turn heat down to low.  Check every five minutes and stir to prevent scorching.  Remove from heat once onions are caramelized and deep brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Once puff pastry is thawed, gently open folded package up onto a lightly floured surface and cut into rounds, making sure to cut as close together as possible so as to waste as little dough as possible.  *You won't be able to reuse scraps for this recipe so use as much dough as possible in this initial cutting.

Place rounds close together on a parchment or Silpat-line baking sheet and prick with a fork.

Place in the oven for their initial baking and set a timer for 10 minutes.

Remove once they look like they are beginning to "dry out" and get flaky, but don't let them brown yet.

Top with onions and pears, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and return to the oven to finish baking, another 15 minutes or so.

Remove from oven, sprinkle with bleu cheese and return to the oven for 2 minutes to melt cheese.

Top with toasted nuts (see recipe here) and serve hot or at room temperature.