Pear, bacon, and goat cheese. All great ingredients, but how would they marry together? Well, there was no time but this week to find out when I happened to have those three ingredients all on hand at the same time. Never mind that this strikes me as an excellent first course for a dinner party and I was going to be serving this to two tired-out, frazzled parents, one of whom would probably be eating one-handed … as this certain baby has a real knack for waking right when plates of food are placed on the table. I’m told this is when a swing comes in handy but sadly, we don’t have one handy!
But just because we are tired-out, frazzled parents doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate good food and good this was. Pear, bacon, and goat cheese make a remarkably delectable combination that I’ll be glad to pair again and again. The skimpy drizzling of honey and hint of thyme in the goat cheese just top this one off beautifully.
Roasted Baby Pears with Herbed Goat Cheese
Recipe by Tyler Florence, taken from Food Network
1/2 pound goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, thyme, and chives
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 baby pears
12 slices bacon, about 1/2 pound, cut in 1/2
2 tablespoons honey
Arugula or dandelion greens, for garnish
Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a small bowl, mix the goat cheese, herbs, and 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Halve the pears and scoop out the seeds and cores. Stuff each pear half with about a tablespoon of the cheese. Wrap each stuffed pear with a slice of bacon and place it on a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil over the pears and season them with salt and pepper. Bake them until the pears are tender and the bacon is crisp, about 25 to 30 minutes.* Place the pears onto a platter, drizzle with the honey, and garnish with the arugula.
*I’m not a big fan of overly cooked or pears that have lost their crispness. So I ignored the direction to cook these for 25 min. Instead, I started the bacon in a frying pan and removed it when it was still pliable, but just starting to crisp. Then I cooked the stuffed pears with the bacon for just about 4-5 minutes, only enough time to make the goat cheese soft and hot.
Hey Kel,
my blog feed says you posted something about a spice rubbed steak, but on your site it’s not showing up as a post. I’m thinking maybe you posted, then deleted it for whatever reason. But just in case you didn’t, I wanted to let you know.
Hope you’re resting and sleeping well tonight!
Thanks! I realized I’d never uploaded the pics so then I had to wait a few days to get that accomplished 🙂 It’s up now.
Hi! Do you want a swing? We have one that we’re not using and actually never did, because Owen didn’t like it…
just e-mail me or something.
Sara