Goat Cheese Stuffed Pears
If you’re anything like me, when you first look at a grazing board you need a minute to think about which ingredients you need to gather on your plate to make the perfect first bite. Fruit, cheese, a little sweetness, something herby, and something savory need to come together to build that bite. Oftentimes that ends up being a towering cracker that is as messy as it is delicious. However, these Goat Cheese Stuffed Pears take the planning and the building out of the picture because you get all those flavors in every bite without worrying about needing a napkin to clean up the floor of the party afterwards!
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And the best thing about these, is that you can pop them on a casual grazing table, or style them up as a beautiful first course for a sit-down dinner. They’ll be the belle of the ball either way. And the best thing? They take about thirty minutes to pull together and only ten of those are hands-on work!
Goat Cheese Stuffed Pears Ingredients
3-4 Slightly Underripe Pears*
4 Oz Goat Cheese
2 Tbs Honey
1 Tbs Rosemary, Minced
1-2 Tbs Walnuts, Crushed
2 Tbs Lemon Juice and Water
* I prefer D’Anjou pears, but any firm pear works! Bartletts are a close second!
Goat Cheese Stuffed Pears Method
Preheat oven to 400º.
In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, rosemary, and 1 tablespoon of honey. Mix well to combine and set aside.
Prep a bowl of water and lemon juice to prevent the pears browning.
Slice each pear down the center lengthwise. Then using a melon baller (or a very deft hand with a spoon) core each pear half. Then drop into the lemon water.
Pro Tip: the larger the hole you make in the pear the more filling can fit inside, but make sure you make the holes wider not deeper, so the structural integrity of the pear holds while baking. I planned on adding one and a half tablespoons of the cheese mixture to each pear, so my holes were rather large. But if you need to feed more people or stuff more pears with the same amount of cheese, just make the holes smaller! Baked pears are delicious with or without filling, so you can customize to your liking!
Let each pear drip dry as you transfer them to a shallow baking dish. Then fill each scooped out pear with the cheese filling. Drizzle a bit of the remaining tablespoon of honey over each pear.
Top with crushed walnuts and serve warm!
Goat Cheese Stuffed Pears
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 400º.
- In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, rosemary, and 1 tablespoon of honey. Mix well to combine and set aside.
- Prep a bowl of water and lemon juice to prevent the pears browning.
- Slice each pear down the center lengthwise. Then using a melon baller core each pear half. Then drop into the lemon water until ready to use.
- Let each pear drip dry as you transfer them to a shallow baking dish. Then fill each scooped out pear with the cheese filling. Drizzle a bit of the remaining tablespoon of honey over each pear.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of the pears) until the pears start to curl in on the edges and the goat cheese creates a film and starts to brown.
- Top with crushed walnuts and serve warm!
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