Poached Pears Stuffed with Toasted Pecans, Blue Cheese and Cranberries
Pears, poached in red wine and balsamic, are stuffed with toasted pecans, blue cheese, cranberries and fresh thyme. Perfect for a holiday side dish.
Ingredients
- 4 whole Red anjou or red Bartlett pears, firm but ripe
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup toasted pecans pieces
- 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (can also use feta)
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Clean and cut pears in half. Using a grapefruit spoon, cut out the core and seeds. (You can also core the pears after you poach them.) Add wine and balsamic to a frying pan.
- Place pears cut side down in the liquid. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook pears just until they are cooked, but still al dente. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, toast the pecans and make the filling by mixing the pecans, blue cheese, thyme leaves and cranberries in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Once pears are cool enough to handle, place the pears in a baking dish, with the cut side and cavity on top. Reduce the cooking liquid by about half by cooking over medium heat just until reduced.
- Fill the cavities in each of the pear halves and drizzle the reduced liquid over the top of each. At this point, you can refrigerate the pears until ready to heat and serve, or heat immediately in a 350℉ oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until the pears are warmed through and the cheese is starting to melt. Garnish each pear with half of a thyme sprig. Serve warm. Serving size is 1/2 pear each.
Notes
You can substitute your favorite ingredient for the stuffing in this pear recipe. For example, use walnuts if you prefer them over pecans, or diced dried apricots in place of the cranberries and feta or goat cheese in place of the blue cheese.