The Perfect Pear
Pears hold their form and have such a distinctive texture and work so beautifully in so many dishes.
Pears often get out-shined by apples which is not very fair as they are so versatile and perfect to cook with. It could be anything: a breakfast crepe, a sauce to serve with a lamb loin, a red-wine soaked pie.
Here’s some recipe inspiration to get you started (or check out our Pinterest board) and check out Emma’s video too for a delicious pear and yoghurt cake).
Super Simple Buttery Roasted Comice Pears
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 1hr 30mins
Serves 2-3
Super simple and super tasty!
Source – Dinner Document
Ingredients
- 2-3 large comic pears, peeled and cut into quarters or eighths
- Caster sugar or soft brown sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Sherry Optional
- Creme fraiche to serve
- Toasted flaked almonds optional
Method
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
Peel and quarter, or eighth two large comice pears, removing seeds and hard pits in the centre. Place in a roasting tray with two tablespoons of caster sugar or soft brown sugar and around one tablespoon of unsalted butter. Roast for 1.5 hours, turning every twenty minutes in the pan to coat the pears with the sugar. If you want, chuck in a slug of booze – sherry or vermouth – twenty minutes before removing from the oven.
Serve with the roasting-pan caramel drizzled over, a spoon of crème fraîche and if you want, some toasted almonds on top.
Comice Pear Clafoutis
Time: 1hr 20 mins
Serves 6
204 Kcals per serving
This version of the classic French dessert, made with slightly floral Comice pears, is best when the stem end of the pears yields slightly to the touch, signalling that the fruit is flavoursome but neither hard nor squishy.
Source – My Recipes
Ingredients
- Salted butter for the dish
- 2 firm-ripe Comice pears, peeled, cored and sliced lengthwise
- 235ml milk
- 3 large eggs
- 50g granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange zest
- Dash of nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 64g self-raising flour
- Icing sugar to sprinkle on top
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Butter a shallow baking dish and arrange pears in an attractive pattern over the bottom. (Fruit will rise to the top as batter bakes.)
Put milk, eggs, granulated sugar, vanilla, orange zest, nutmeg, salt, and flour (in this order) in a blender and whirl until very smooth and frothy, 1 minute. Pour batter over pears.
Bake until clafoutis is well browned and a little puffed, about 50 minutes.
Let the clafoutis cool on a rack for about 15 minutes. Serve warm, sprinkled with icing sugar.
Rustic Comice Pear Yoghurt Cake
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Easy
A rustic yoghurt cake topped with sweet, comice pears and a dusting of cinnamon and icing sugar – delicious as a dessert or ‘breakfast’ cake. This cake covered properly keeps well on the countertop for 2 days or refrigerate for it to keep for longer.
Ingredients
- 250g natural yoghurt
- 60ml oil
- 135g sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 170g self-raising flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 salt
- 2 medium-sized, very ripe, comice pears
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- Icing sugar to serve
Method
Pre-heat oven to 180 °C. Line bottom of an 8″ round cake pan with parchment. Grease and flour pan thoroughly. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the yoghurt, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon zest till smooth.
Placing a large sifter or sieve right over the bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl.
Whisk into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated and batter is smooth.
Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth top with a spatula.
Peel, core and cut pears into thin slices. Arrange pear slices on top of cake batter. Sprinkle cinnamon powder on top.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or till cake is puffy and golden and passes the toothpick test.
Remove from oven and cool in pan over a wire rack for 10 minutes. Dust lightly with icing sugar, cut and serve. Enjoy!
Sautéed Pears with Bacon & Mustard Dressing
Time: 30 mins
Serves 8
Easy
It’s not a pudding but just as tasty… Pears and walnuts are delicious together; walnuts and bacon make total sense. When you combine them all, it’s magic.
Source: Bon Appetit
Ingredients
- 30g bacon lardons
- 4 ripe but firm pears, quartered, seeds removed
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp whole grain mustard
- 3 tbsp plus 2 tsp walnut oil or olive oil
- 65g unsalted, roasted walnuts
- Sliced chives to serve
Method
Cook the bacon in a large frying pan over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp around edges, 10–12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp. bacon fat from the frying pan.
Season the pears with salt and pepper and cook in the frying pan with the left-over fat over a medium-high, turning occasionally, until golden brown and starting to soften (they should be slightly firm at cores), 5–7 minutes. Transfer to a platter and let them cool.
Whisk the vinegar, mustard and 3 Tbsp. oil in a small bowl to combine; season dressing with salt and pepper. Toss the walnuts with the remaining 2 tsp. oil in another small bowl; season with salt. Drizzle the dressing over the pears and scatter walnuts and bacon on top. Just before serving, top with chives.
