Roasted Pears With Blue Cheese

Submitted by lazy gourmet

"From The Barefoot Contessa, 2008"

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 3 ripe but firm Anjou pears
• fresh lemon juice (3 lemons)
• 3 ounces coarsely crumbled sharp blue cheese such as Stilton cheese
• 1⁄4 cup dried cranberries
• 1⁄4 cup walnut halves, toasted and chopped
• 1⁄2 cup apple cider
• 3 tablespoons port wine
• 1⁄3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 6 ounces baby arugula
• kosher salt

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Peel the pears and slice them lengthwise into halves. With a small sharp paring knife and a melon baller, remove the core and seeds from each pear, leaving a round well for the filling. Trim a small slice away from the rounded sides of each pear half so that they will sit in the baking dish without wobbling. Toss the pears with some lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Arrange them, core side up, in a baking dish large enough to hold the pears snugly.
3. Gently toss the crumbled blue cheese, dried cranberries, and walnuts together in a small bowl. Divide the mixture among the pears, mounding it on top of the indentation.
4. In the same small bowl, combine the apple cider, port, and brown sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the mixture over and around the pears. Bake the pears, basting occasionally with the cider mixture, for 30 minutes, or until tender. Set aside until warm or at room temperature.
5. Just before serving, whisk together the olive oil, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of the basting liquid in a large bowl. Divide the arugula among 6 plates and top each with a pear half. Drizzle each pear with some of the basting liquid, sprinkle with salt, and serve warm.

Reviews

[Scoutie]

If you want to impress your guests, make this delicious recipe! I have made this many times and use it for a salad OR a dessert, it works either way. I have used a cheaper Danish blue and that works fine too. Sometimes I add the zest of 1 lemon to the dressing and drop the brown sugar down to 1/4 cup. I make up the filling and sauce first as then the pears don't have time to brown as much. I also make the wells in the pears larger so I can add more cheese and sauce, which means making more of the filling and sauce. Chopping the walnuts make it easier for me to fill the pears. This is a simple, elegant dish that everyone loves, perfect for the holidays! Thanks for posting, lazy gourmet.