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Fresh Pear Pie with Dried Cherries and Brown Sugar Streusel (Serves 8)

For the Streusel:
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ tsp. table salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
3 lbs. ripe Anjou or Bartlett pears, peeled and cored, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges and then crosswise into ½ inch slices (about 7 cups)
1/2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¾ cup dried tart cherries, coarsely chopped
1 all butter pie crust (see instructions below)

Position a rack in the center of the oven and set a heavy duty rimmed baking sheet on the rack and heat to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar and salt. Using your fingers, blend the butter into the mixture and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss the pears with the lemon juice. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the sugar mixture to pears and toss well to combine. Stir in the cherries. Set aside and make the crust.

All Butter Crust:
1 1/3 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into ¾ inch pieces
3-4 Tablespoons ice water

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a rubber spatula or fork to combine. Add the butter to the bowl and rub the cold chunks of butter between your fingertips, blending the butter into the flour to create small flakes of fat. Drizzle 3 Tablespoons ice water over the mixture and stir with spatula or fork, add 1 Tablespoon more if needed, until the mixture forms a shaggy dough that’s moist enough to hold together when pressed between your fingers. Gently gather and press the dough together and then form it into a disk with smooth edges. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours before rolling. Allow the dough to soften before rolling. When rolled to desired size, gently lay in pie pan, trim excess and crimp edges. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork and chill for another hour before filling.

Mound the filling into the piecrust. Sprinkle the streusel over the pear mixture, pressing the streusel between your fingers into small lumps as you sprinkle. Put the pie on the heated baking sheet and bake until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly and thickened at the edges, about 1 hour. Rotate the pie halfway through baking and if the pastry or streusel browns before the filling has thickened, loosely cover the top or edges of the pie as needed with a sheet of aluminum foil. Transfer to a rack and cool completely before serving.