Since I got on a roll with the fall apple-honey recipe, I decided to share a pear recipe, too. The photo on Epicurious was so luscious-looking yet simple. I think you really are going to like Pears in Honey and Pine Nut Caramel as a light fall dessert. In fact, I think it would be a good choice for Thanksgiving dinner.
A couple of weekends ago, John Wright did an event at Capra Gia Cheese Company in Carrollton, GA. We’ve been buying their chevre (goat cheese) at the local farmer’s markets and highly recommend using their chevre in this recipe. Since we are mentioning farmer’s markets here, of course, we use local, seasonal, organic ingredients when we cook.
Benefits of Eating Goat Cheese
My sister and I were born in the early 1950s where Mom’s didn’t breast feed as much, and the convenience of bottle feeding for mothers was the latest and greatest. Cow’s milk based formulas worked for me, but they didn’t work for my sister. That’s when we first heard from her pediatrician that goat’s milk was easier to digest than cow’s milk. Click here for a good article on goat cheese from Dr. Joseph Mercola (with another recipe)!
The Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 3 firm but ripe Bosc pears or other pears, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored
- 3 1/2 tablespoons Bee Wild honey (We used Gallberry or Wildflower.)
- 4 ounces artisinal cheese, room temperature and crumbled (We use Capra Gia's Chevre Goat Cheese.)
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- Pinch of fine sea salt
Instructions
- Cook unsalted butter in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until beginning to brown.
- Add pear halves, cut side down, to skillet. Drizzle honey over pears and swirl pan slightly to blend butter and honey. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until pears are tender.
- when pierced with paring knife, swirling skillet occasionally and adding a few tablespoons water to skillet if caramel sauce turns deep amber before pears are tender, about 12 minutes.
- Transfer pears, cut side up, to serving platter. Top pears with cheese. Return skillet with caramel sauce to medium-high heat; add pine nuts to skillet and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Cook until sauce in skillet is brown and bubbling, about 2 minutes. Spoon sauce over pears and serve.
Notes
Even though Epicurious recommends a dessert wine, I think I'd pair this with a nice Madeira. Tasted Madeira in Portugal and loved the sweet, smooth flavor.
