Method

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. You will need 6 individual loose-bottom tartlet dishes or a 6 x ½ cup capacity muffin tray. Brush lightly with melted butter and set aside.

Lay out the phyllo on a dry surface. Place a damp tea towel on top of the phyllo to prevent it from drying out. Take one sheet of phyllo, brush it lightly with the melted butter and fold it in half. Brush this lightly with butter, cut in half and line 2 of the tartlet dishes (or muffin trays) with the phyllo. Repeat this process with the remaining phyllo and bake for 5–10 minutes, or until they turn a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Combine the ricotta, castor sugar and vanilla paste in a bowl. Set aside.

Slice the pears, keeping the tip intact, so that you can fan them later onto the tartlet bases. Place the butter and treacle sugar in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the pears and gently toss, coating them in the butter and sugar mixture – try to keep them intact. When the pears begin to caramelise, add the lemon zest, walnuts and currants, and cook over low heat until the currants are plump, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Fill the tartlet shells with the ricotta mixture and top with the caramelised pear mixture. Place the filled tartlets back into the oven and bake for 10–15 minutes.

Serve on individual plates and dust lightly with icing sugar. Serve immediately.