How to enjoy PEARS without Cheese?

[val ann c]

Our house has gone gluten-free and dairy-free. I've learned new ways to enjoy most fresh fruit without cheese --- except for pears. Aside from glorious chesse, what are some good accompaniments for pears?

[stay_classy]

I often roast pears to serve with pork or chicken dishes, or I poach them with cranberries for a really delicious and light dessert (make sure to use a smaller, harder pear, such as Seckel.)

[Vetter]

I love pears with hazelnuts. Maybe you could halve them, brush them with a little nut oil and maybe tuck a little turbinado sugar and coarsely chopped nuts into their bellies? Or gently poach some nice slices in some Frangelico with a vanilla bean? I get bored with plain fruit, so I tend to roast it or macerate it in a nice liqueur for a treat.

[im_nomad]

If you are looking to simply eat the pear whole, and not as an ingredient, my first thought was walnut butter. Pricier than some nut butters....but I bet that would be goooood.

[paddydubai]

They make a delicious addition to a cold Thai beef salad, with crunchy beansprouts and Asian greens, and a Thai four-flavour sauce on them.

[Deenso]

I love pears with a drizzle of honey, a sprinkle of freshly-grated black pepper and a few thin slices of peccorino. How about trying with just the honey and pepper?

I don't know anything about soy cheese. Is there an edible (meaning enjoyable) substitute for peccorino?

[Das Ubergeek]

A drop or two of real, aged balsamic (not the $10 bottle from the market, I mean real aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena) and a couple of twists of black pepper.

I've made a killer tart out of a vegan crust (vegetable shortening, flour, a little salt, a little sugar, and in this case moistened with Poire William), sweetened silken tofu buzzed in a blender instead of pastry cream, and sliced pears on top, sprinkled with just a touch of nutmeg.

[FriedClamFanatic]

OMG........that could be heaven!..............Vegan or otherwise!

[FriedClamFanatic]

poach them in marsala or port wine and serve on a bed of lettuce with a few crumbled pecans or almonds. I add cheese to it, but it should be good without it

[spellweaver16]

A little sprinkling of cinnamon, some honey, and a handful of walnuts sounds nice to me.

[fershore]

Sliced and dipped in a balsamic reduction, maybe a side of walnuts.

[Raquel]

I'm not the biggest pear/apple fan, so when I know I need to eat some, I try to sprinkle some very dark molasses brown sugar on them. They are wonderful. I'm sure just brown sugar would work the same, I just like the added depth of flavor. Also, raisins are nice with pears. I recently had some leftover ice wine and we cut up some pears and other fruit, they were divine with the ice wine. Oh, and I've also put them in salads before with walnuts, spinach, and blue cheese, but I guess you have to leave that out.

[DiningDiva]

Chocolate is a natural with pears. Or drizzle with some honey and top with some chopped nuts, pecans are great with pears.

How about poaching them in wine and spices. I did some bosc pears this past weekend in a mixture of Cab (Zin is better for poaching), jamacia flowers, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and vanilla.

[grabtrees]

yum that sounds so good!

[goodhealthgourmet]

a few ideas:
- they're great with prosciutto or pork tenderloin
- spread slices with almond butter (a variation on apples with PB)
- slice into in a salad with bitter greens, sweet red onions, toasted sliced almonds, and balsamic or citrus vinaigrette
- mix diced pears into chicken salad, or as a substitute for apples in Waldorf salad
- poach for a delicious, healthy & elegant dessert. there are so many ways to flavor them: vanilla, ginger & cardamom, red wine or port with cinnamon, reduced balsamic, chocolate syrup (i happen to love pears with chocolate)...
- and though i'm not a proponent of soy, you could eat them with soy yogurt

[ipsedixit]

I dunno, I've always eaten (and enjoyed) pears on their own.

That said, how about yogurt? Or maybe Nutella? I suppose choclate always works ...

[goodhealthgourmet]

the yogurt would have to be soy, as the OP is also dairy-free. but i like the Nutella idea!

[marietinn]

Regular nuttella has dairy in it, but there are lots of good vegan nutella recipes on the web=)

[goodhealthgourmet]

nice catch - i completely forgot Nutella contains milk!

[marietinn]

Not a problem. I just went vegan, so I'm trying to keep track of what contains what=)