Roasted Pears with Butterscotch Sauce

Pears lend themselves beautifully to roasting. Their natural sweetness condenses as they bake and their sugars caramelize, yet they retain a nice texture and look gorgeous on a plate. I have written about pears in the fall section of the What’s in Season page on the top bar of this blog. There are many pear varieties, and it is important to use the right variety for the right cooking method. Not all pears roast the same. There are endless ways of serving pears, as dessert, in salads, alongside dinner foods, in soups or with cheese at the end of a meal. I am offering this simple recipe to start with and will feature more recipes as I continue with this blog.

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Ingredients:

4 Bosc pears

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup pear juice or water

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Butterscotch sauce (see below)

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Directions:

Peel pears with a vegetable peeler and cut each in half leaving the stem attached to one of the halves. Scoop out the seed from the center with a melon baller.

Place pear halves in a baking pan, drizzle with lemon juice, pear juice and sugar. Place a piece of butter in each pear cavity. Cover and bake at 350℉ until the pears are soft but hold their shape.

Butterscotch sauce

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 cup light brown sugar

2/3 cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine butter, corn syrup and sugar in a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook about 3 minutes on low heat.

Add cream and vanilla and stir to combine.

Place 2 pear halves on each dessert plate, drizzle with warm butterscotch sauce and garnish with a leaf or two of mint.

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