Fresh Autumn Pears

RECIPES & IMAGES KATHY PATERSON

I’ve never under-rated the pear—they sit among my favourite fruit, so you will often see me using pears in my recipes.

The Packham pear would be my go-to pear, especially sliced onto my morning porridge, but there are many other worthy varieties too.

Along with tomatoes and avocados, pears need to ripen. Unripe pears are very firm, gritty and dry, so do buy ahead and ripen your purchase. A pear ripens from the centre, so keep an eye out and your sense of smell sharp. As a pear ripens it becomes fragrant, so sniff away. Ripe pears are juicy and buttery, and there is nothing better than eating a perfectly ripe pear with its juice running down your hand.

SIMPLY ROASTED PEARS

3 ripe Beurre Bosc pears or other russet-coloured pear varietal 2 tbsp soft brown sugar a good drizzle extra-virgin olive oil freshly ground white pepper a few sprigs fresh thyme 100ml white wine a good squeeze of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a large roasting tray with baking paper. Thickly slice the pears lengthwise. You should get four slices from each pear. Place in a single layer in the prepared tray. Sprinkle over the brown sugar, drizzle over the oil and grind over some pepper. Scatter pears with thyme. Mix together the wine and lemon juice and drizzle over the pears. Place in the oven to roast for 30–40 minutes until just tender. I like to remove from the oven and baste pear slices in the roasting juices halfway through roasting. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Serve roasted pears on a cheese board. Use with blue cheese, a vintage cheddar or goat’s cheese. Add to a salad using leafy greens, blue cheese, toasted sourdough bread and nuts.

BAKED BRIE OR CAMEMBERT

SERVES 6 150g Brie or Camembert 1 tbsp runny honey a few fresh herb flowers or other edible flowers

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the unwrapped Brie or Camembert on the prepared tray. Score the top using a sharp knife then place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. If you gently shake the tray you will see the Brie or Camembert wobble in the centre.

Remove from the oven and transfer, paper and all, to a serving board or plate. Warm the honey and drizzle over. Scatter over a few fresh edible flowers or you could scatter with soft herb leaves.

Serve with roasted fresh pears and flatbread.

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GRILLED CHEESE, ONION AND FRESH PEAR TOASTIES

In need of a little love? Make a glorious grilled cheese sandwich.

MAKES 2 15g butter, plus extra for buttering bread slices a dash of olive oil 1 medium onion, finely sliced 1 ripe but firm pear, quartered, cored and sliced sea salt and pepper ¾–1 cup coarsely grated cheese, such as Gouda, Gruyere or Cheddar 1 buffalo Bocconcini, torn into pieces 4 slices bread (a potato sourdough bread is good here) 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Heat a wide heavy-based saucepan or frying pan over low heat. Add the butter and oil, and as the butter melts and bubbles, add the onion. Cook until the onion softens and turns lightly golden, stirring from time to time to prevent sticking (about 7 minutes). Transfer onion to a plate then add the sliced pear and cook until tender and golden, turning once. Season with salt and pepper and add to the onion. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine the grated cheese and torn buffalo Bocconcini. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Spread the cheese mixture on one side of each of two bread slices. Top with the onion and pear mixture. Spread the Dijon mustard on the remaining two bread slices and place mustard-side down on the cheese mixture to make sandwiches. Butter the outside of each sandwich on both sides.

Place sandwiches in the hot pan and cook until the bread is golden brown, then flip the sandwich and cook the other side. Serve.

Kathy Paterson

Kathy Paterson is a recipe developer, food stylist and photographer. A plentiful herb garden and a trial and error vegetable garden give Kathy the starting place for her recipes along with her love of the classics with a modern twist.

www.kathypaterson.co.nz

Cobbler may be the best reason to turn on the oven. Its crisp yet short-textured topping is a family favourite. Ice cream essential!

SERVES 6

PEARS

5–6 ripe pears juice of 1 small lemon 1 tbsp caster sugar

COBBLER TOPPING

1¼ cups plain flour 1½ tsp baking powder a pinch of salt ¼ cup caster sugar 35g cold butter, diced ½ cup flaked or slivered almonds 200ml cream raw sugar for sprinkling icing sugar for dusting, optional

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Quarter and core the pears then slice quarters in half. Toss in the lemon juice and sugar and place in a 6-cup-capacity ovenproof dish.

Place the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a food processor and process for 10 seconds to sift. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the almonds then pour in the cream through the feed tube, only processing until the mixture begins to come together. Dollop the cobbler topping over the pears then sprinkle with raw sugar. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 150°C and continue to bake until the cobbler topping is golden brown and cooked through (35–45 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to sit for about 10 minutes before serving. To serve – dust the pear cobbler with icing sugar (optional) and serve with ice cream. Salted caramel ice cream would be my pick.