Preheat Oven: Place a large baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and preheat the oven (with the pan inside) to 375 degrees F. (This is optional, but cooking the pie on a hot baking sheet will help the bottom crust cook and not be soggy.)
Add pie crust to pie pan. Refrigerate while you make filling.
Make the Crumb Topping: Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Add butter and use your fingertips, a fork, or pastry blender to work the butter into the mixture until well combined. Refrigerate while you assemble the pie.
Make Filling: Add pears to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle lemon juice, butter, sugars, flour and spices over the top and very gently stir to coat evenly. Pour filling into pie shell. Top with crumb topping.
Bake: Place pie in the oven on top of a hot baking sheet and bake for about 50 minutes, until filling is bubbling and the crust is golden.
Cool: Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack, at least 3 hours, before cutting and serving. This allows the filling to set up so it won’t fall apart when slicing.
Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce, if desired.
Video
Notes
Pears: Use Bartlett, Red or Green Anjou, or Bosc—whatever is on sale! I buy a few extra to make sure I have good ones to choose from when I bake, since they can get soft spots so quickly. You want them to be firm, with a tiny bit of give, but not soft. If they are hard/unripe when you buy them, place them in a brown paper bag for 1-3 days or so, to ripen a little more.Make Ahead Instructions: The entire pie can also be made a day ahead of time. Once cool, cover and refrigerate.Freezing Instructions: The pie crust and pie filling can be frozen, separately, for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge and then assemble. Baked pear pie can also be frozen once it has cooled completely. Cover it well with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw for about 1.5 days in the refrigerator before serving.Add Pecans: Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the crumb topping before baking.Bourbon Pear Pie: Add 2-3 Tablespoons Bourbon to the filling.