Pears

Helping you cut down on food waste, one ingredient at a time

Autumn marks the start of crumble season, and pears come into their own when baked under a crunchy brown sugar topping and covered with custard. Fragrant pears are ideal in sweet dishes – poached in wine or baked into cakes – or added to savoury salads. However, we waste £33m* worth of pears each year in the UK. Find out how to get the most out of them with these tips.

Store Them Right

Keeping pears in the fridge delays ripening, but keep them away from avocados, grapes and peppers as pears release gases that make these spoil more quickly. Don’t discard mushy pears; they can be used in cooking, baking or smoothies.

Make Them Go Further

Prevent cut pears from browning by placing in a bowl of water with drops of lemon juice. Pears can be frozen: prep for how you’ll want to use them, put on a baking tray and open-freeze before transferring to freezer bags.

Use Them Up

CHOPPED

Pear & ginger compote

Put thickly chopped pears in a pan with chopped stem ginger, a little syrup from the jar and a splash of water. Cook over a medium heat for 10-15 mins until tender. Use to top porridge or pancakes.

Chocolate & marzipan stuffed pears

Halve pears and scoop out the cores. Fill with chopped dark chocolate and marzipan, then drizzle with a little amaretto liqueur. Bake until tender and golden.

18k tonnes of pears are wasted each year in the UK*