Roasted Baby Pears With Herbed Goat Cheese Recipes

ARUGULA WITH ROASTED PEARS AND GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter.
• To roast the pears, arrange the pear halves, cut sides down, on the buttered sheet. Brush the tops with the remaining melted butter. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until just tender to the point of a knife, 20 to 25 minutes.
• To dress the greens, place the arugula in a large bowl. Drizzle with the vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine and coat.
• To serve, divide the greens among 4 to 6 individual serving plates. Top each with a warm roasted pear half, cut side up. Place a spoonful of goat cheese on each pear. Drizzle with honey. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.
• Bosc pears are the archetypical pear, with an elongated neck and round, bell-shaped bottom. Their firm, sweet flesh is suitable for fresh eating, salads, and cooking. They are harvested in the fall. Look for firm fruit with a golden bronze color.

BALSAMIC ROASTED PEAR WITH WARM GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 400º F.
• Melt butter in ovenproof baking dish.
• Arrange pears, cut-sides-down, in a layer of the butter and roast for about 20 minutes, or until tender.
• Pour balsamic vinegar over pears and roast 5 minutes longer.
• Remove pears from baking dish and arrange on serving plates.
• Add honey to the juices in the baking dish, stirring until melted and combined.
• Add the slices of goat cheese to the hot mixture and warm the cheese until just soft.
• With a spatula, place the warm goat cheese on the plates next to each pear and drizzle with the balsamic and honey sauce.

HERBED GOAT CHEESE AND ROASTED PEPPER TOASTS

Steps:

• Roast the pepper: Place the bell pepper directly over the open flame of a gas burner, under the broiler or on a hot, glowing charcoal grill. Let the skin of the pepper blacken and blister, using tongs to turn the pepper frequently. When completely blackened, after 5 to 8 minutes, transfer to a plate to cool.
• Using a paring knife, cut pepper in half lengthwise. Cut away seeds and stem and discard. Scrape away the skin and discard. Do not rinse. It's OK if a few bits of charred skin remain.
• Cut pepper halves into long strips about 1-inch wide. Season lightly with salt. (The pepper can be prepared up to 24 hours ahead of serving.)
• Marinate the goat cheese: Slice the goat cheese log into 10 pieces (each about 3/4-inch thick). Place pieces in a single layer on a plate and pour 1/4 cup oil over.
• Strip leaves from a few thyme sprigs and a rosemary sprig, roughly chop and sprinkle over the cheese. Finish with a bit of freshly ground black pepper, and a small pinch of red-pepper flakes. Cover and set aside. (This can also be done up to 24 hours ahead.)
• Set oven to 350 degrees. Cut the baguette on a diagonal into 10 slices, each about 1/4-inch thick. (If using ciabatta, cut into similar-size pieces.) Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer, then place in oven for about 5 minutes, until bread is barely toasted.
• Remove from oven and carefully give each toast a light swipe with the garlic clove. Lay a strip of roasted pepper across each toast to cover. Place a goat cheese round in the center of each toast. Spoon the remaining olive oil from the plate generously over each piece of cheese and any exposed toast.
• To finish, return to the oven and bake, uncovered, until the bread is nicely browned and the cheese has gotten a bit of color, 8 to 10 minutes. Let toasts cool a bit, then arrange on a platter and serve. (They taste best at room temperature or just barely warm.) Toasts can be baked up to 1 hour ahead and popped in the oven to reheat slightly.

APPLE PEAR PUREE, ROASTED BEETS & WALNUT HERB GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• Beets -- Start those first as they take the longest. This can easily be done the day ahead. Simply cut off most of the greens and wash well. Put the red beets on one sheet of foil and the yellow on another. Drizzle both with olive oil, salt and pepper and fold up the foil to make a little pouch. Roast in a 425 degree oven for approximately 45-60 minutes depending on their size - 45 minutes for small beets and 60 minutes for large beets. Once done, remove from the foil and just let cool. At this point, I like to peel the beets by just rubbing off the skin and then I put the whole beet in a plastic baggie until I am ready to slice and use it in my salad. Your fingers will get red, so you can use a rubber gloves if you want. If not -- after peeling your beets, just put a couple of drops of clorox or bleach on your hands as you wash them and it comes right off.
• Apples and Pears -- In a medium sauce pan, add the apples, pears, cinnamon stick and wine. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and cook until tender. NOT mushy, just fork tender, this can take 5-10 minutes. Strain the fruit, remove the cinnamon stick and reserve some of the wine to thin out the puree if necessary. Transfer to a blender and pulse to make a nice thick sauce. You want this to be the consistency of thick gravy. Refrigerate until ready to use. This is a chilled sauce, not served warm.
• Cheese -- Now I cut mine with dental floss. I put mine in the freezer for just 15 minutes to make it easier to cut. Take a strand of dental flow and make 8 slices. Then take each slice and lightly dip the top and bottom into the nut mixture.
• Building the salad -- First slice your beets. You will need 8 slices of red beets and 4 slices of the yellow. On a nice serving plate, add some of the apple pear puree, then 1 red beet slice, then a slice of cheese, a yellow beet slice, another slice of cheese, then top with another red beet. Drizzle a little pear puree over the top and if you want to get fancy a couple of thin slices of apple or pear or maybe a little fresh sprig of thyme. The salad is so pretty as is. It is an absolutely great beginning to a dinner.
• Enjoy!