Spiced Roasted Pears

Apples and pears, pears and apples, apples, apples, and more apples, and then some pears. That's the state of fruit at the farmers' market these days. This is the time of year when trying to eat locally and seasonally  can be challenging. It's not like The Long Winter from Little House on the Prairie or anything, but it can still be monotonous.

Finding new ways to spice up (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) those apples and pears keeps things from getting too dull. These pears have sparked the interest of young and not-so-young in this house. They require just a bit of preparation, then roast on their own in the oven so that you can prepare the rest of the meal, fold a load of laundry, sit with a child doing homework, or buzz around and chat with guests, depending on what is happening at home.

And the flavor? The pears are lightly sweetened with just a hint of those classic winter spices, cinnamon and nutmeg. And they are fragrant and pretty to boot. They make a fine end to a dinner on their own, especially this time of year, when it just feels right to leave some of that cream and butter behind. (At least for now). Of course they are also delicious with a bit of creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream.

These will definitely keep me eating pears for a while longer, although I confess that from time to time, I do sneak off to our well-stocked grocery store and pick up a pineapple or cantaloupe. Or even a pomelo.

Second Helping: Robin's Egg Meringues (made by the children)
Thirds?: Banana Chocolate Chip Snack Cakes (my first HTC recipe!)

Spiced Roasted Pears

So far, I have only used Bosc pears for this recipe because that is what is available at our farmers' market, but I would love to try it with Bartletts. I'm guessing they would not need to cook quite as long because they are not as firm.

Serves 6
20 minutes preparation time
approximately 50 minutes minutes baking time

1/2 cup fruity white wine, such as viognier
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 Bosc pears

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the wine, water, sugar, and spices in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.

Peel the pears and cut them lengthwise, leaving the stems on if you like. Using a melon baller or small knife remove the core of each pear half. Arrange the pears cut side up in a baking dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. Pour the syrup over the pears. Don't wash the pan yet, in case you want to use it to thicken the sauce (see below).

Bake the pears for about 25 minutes, removing them from the oven once or twice to baste them in the juices. Turn the pears over and continue to roast them until they are tender when pierced with a knife. Depending on the size of the pears, this could take anywhere from an additional 15 to 35 minutes. Again, remove the baking dish from the oven once or twice and spoon the juices over the pears.

If you would like to thicken the sauce after the pears have finished cooking, pour the sauce from the baking pan into the saucepan and warm the sauce over medium heat. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally until it thickens into a syrup.

Serve the pears with some of the syrup drizzled on top. A scoop of ice cream, a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream or creme fraiche would make an excellent accompaniment, as would a crisp cookie.

Jobs for children: Measuring and grating nutmeg can be done my children most ages. Slightly older children can peel the pears and remove the cores. With a melon baller, even littler ones can help with the coring. The oldest children can help slice the pears and stir the syrup.

Print Recipe

Comments

[Andrea]

Is this what we had with you? I seem to remember the children thinking there was a problem with the batch we ate: NOT ENOUGH! Yum!

[Florence Falloux]

As the French saying goes,
“La poire est sans le vin un dangereux poison
Que la santé redoute avec juste raison”
(Pear is without wine a dangerous poison that health dreads rightly)... This looks delicious! Didn't think of making it with white wine, will have to try this recipe! My mom taught me to peel the pear without cutting it and to cook it in red wine with a few spices. It looks like this http://cuisine.notrefamille.com/recettes-cuisine/poire-pochee-au-vin-_4620-r.html and tastes really good with vanilla ice cream ;-)

[Margy]

Thank you for sharing that link. It looks delicious. Do you core the pear without cutting it too? I'd love to do that. The whole pear looks very elegant.