Healthy dessert recipe: Caramelized Bosc pears with hazelnut butter

Courtesy of usapears.comWith their coarse, dull brown covering, Bosc pears would be the pears most likely to linger in produce bins without an active publicity campaign.

But this homely cousin of the curvier Comice and the exotic red Anjou pear has an inner beauty that’s worth discovering. Beneath its thinner than-expected skin is a remarkably sweet and succulent fruit. After the first bite, it doesn’t need much help to win you over with its charms.

But getting more of us to take that first bite is the challenge.

Enter the pear-pushing Pear Bureau Northwest, which promotes pears grown in Oregon and Washington. The bureau, whose job is to encourage more pear consumption, routinely calls in chefs to create recipes that demonstrate the ways pears can be enjoyed beyond eating out of hand. Lauded former Portland Chef Matthew Lightner, who is now working to open the highly anticipated Manhattan restaurant Atera, gave our modest pear an expert makeover.

In the hands of Lightner, previously named one of Food and Wine Magazine’s top chefs, the Bosc becomes an alluring good-looker, cooked in caramel and dressed for success in homemade hazelnut butter and crunchy roasted hazelnuts. Accessorized with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream or a dab of lightly whipped cream, she’s one sexy little dessert - but still wholesome enough to take home to mother for dinner.

Pear picking tips

Pears are among the delights of winter and early spring. A great healthy snack at only about 100 calories per fruit, they deliver a healthy dose of fiber and vitamin C. And, of course, they are free of fat, sodium and cholesterol. To determine if a pear is ripe and ready to eat, the best trick is to “Check the Neck,” according to the Pear Bureau Northwest. Gently press the neck, or stem end of the pear with your thumb. If it yields to gentle pressure, it’s ripe. If the pear is firm to the touch, then it is a bit under-ripe, which means it will have a crisper texture and a more sweet-tart flavor.

Pears have a delicate skin, so a few light marks on the surface are acceptable and won’t affect a
pear’s flavor or texture. Avoid pears with dark, soft bruises, however. Select pears in varying degrees of ripeness. You will have some that are ready to eat immediately and others that can finish ripening over several days. To ripen pears at home, keep them in a fruit bowl at room temperature and check the
neck for ripeness daily. Store ripe pears in the refrigerator, where they’ll keep for three to five days.

Visit usapears.org to learn more about pear varieties, find recipes, and entertain the kids with
online games that just might encourage them to eat more fruit.

Carmelized Bosc pears with hazelnut butter

(6 servings)

3 firm, ripe Bosc pears

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or squeeze
of fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For hazelnut butter:

3/4 cup hazelnuts, lightly toasted and
skinned

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Peel and halve the pears, leaving the stem intact on one of the halves. Set aside.

2. Make the caramel: Place the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds in a nonreactive, shallow, wide, heavybottomed saucepan with a lid. Add the cream of tartar or lemon juice and stir together until the sugar is completely moistened. Heat the mixture over medium heat, covered, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the syrup begins to bubble. Remove the lid, increase the heat slightly and allow the syrup to boil until it turns golden in color. Add the butter and swirl until combined and color is uniform.

3. Carefully place the pear halves in the caramel, cut side down. Cook over medium heat, occasionally basting the pears with caramel, until the sauce begins to attach itself to the pears and give them color, about 15 minutes.  Carefully transfer the pear halves to a small sheet tray lined with foil or parchment paper and drizzle with the remaining caramel sauce. Cool at room temperature.

4. While the pears are cooling, make the hazelnut butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spread the hazelnuts on a small pan. Toast the nuts until they are lightly golden and aromatic, about 8 minutes. Cool completely, set aside 1/4 cup and transfer the remaining 1/2 cup of hazelnuts to a blender or food
processor. Add the olive oil, sugar and salt and blend briefly on low speed. Gradually increase the speed until a smooth paste forms, adding water 1 tablespoon at a time to achieve the right consistency, slightly looser than peanut butter. (The hazelnut butter should coat the back of a spoon.)

5. To serve, lightly crush the reserved hazelnuts with the back of a sauté pan being certain to leave them coarse. Drain excess caramel from pear halves, coat them with hazelnut butter and roll in the crushed nuts. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or lightly whipped cream.

Nutrition information (per serving):
383 calories, 17g fat (3g saturated),
4mg cholesterol, 196mg sodium, 60g
carbs, 5g fiber, 52g sugars, 3g protein

– Chef Matthew Lightner