Roasted Pears

Roasted pears! A fun foundational idea with endless improvisational finishing possibilities. Our pears were going bad, so I roasted them. Now I want to roast or broil every type of fruit at least once to see what happens. Once you scoop out the middle of the pear, you can fill it with whatever you dream up - melted butter alone in the center would be tasty, or add some squeezed lemon, sugar, and fresh vanilla bean. This time around, I filled the pears with walnuts and roasted the whole thing together. This warms up the nuts while toasting them just on top, so it maintains their raw buttery quality. Another delicious route would be to toss the nuts in melted butter, maple syrup or sugar and some spices, then roast them separately for a more candied quality. Serve warm with ice cream, alone, or next to some loaf cake.

INGREDIENTS

pears peeled with a peeler with the center toughness scooped out

maple syrup optional

lemon

earth balance or butter

cinnamon

salt

walnuts crushed

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 350. 
2. Arrange the pears on a baking sheet. 
3. Brush with maple syrup and squeeze some fresh lemon on top.
4. Plop a bit of butter in the center and sprinkle everything with cinnamon and a touch of salt.
5. Fill up the middle with walnuts and finish with a bit more butter on top.
6. Pop in the oven until golden and caramelized. Watch the nuts to make sure they don't burn.

Enjoy! xo, J