Culinary speaking for me there’s no better season than Autumn. Chestnuts, mushrooms, game… all the things I dream of during the rest of the year are available, at last. And pears, of course. I adore them and they’re already wonderful in Summer, becoming even yummier in Autumn.
My favourite Autumn ones are the Doyenné du Comice, so nice and plump, so juicy and tender when perfectly ripe. I love them so much I can easily eat three in a row. :)
They’re wonderful not only fresh but also baked like in this recipe. Here their natural sweetness perfectly matches the (not too) sweet ricotta cheese enriched with dark chocolate and candied orange peels. Pears with chocolate is already a divine combination and orange peel makes it even better.
Try them, and if you feel like exaggerating with calories garnish them with a little whipped cream, though I can assure you that they’re already perfect just like this
Baked pears with ricotta and chocolate
Serves 4
2 ripe Doyenné pears
30 gr. dark chocolate
20 gr. walnuts, hazelnuts or pine nuts
125 gr ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk
two tablespoons of candied orange peels, coarsely chopped
20 gr. sugar
butter
cocoa powder
icing sugar
a bit of liqueur (for ex. rum or grappa)
Peel the pears and cut them in halves.
Remove a little piece of flesh from the rounded part of the pear halves so that they will stand nicely in the oven dish without tilting.
Remove the cores and some of the fruit flesh around them to make some space for the filling using a coffee spoon or a melon baller.
Mix well ricotta cheese, sugar, coarsely chopped walnuts or hazelnuts (or whole pine nuts), the candied orange peels, the chocolate, the lightly beaten egg yolk and one or two tablespoons of liqueur.
Fill the pears with this mixture.
Cover an oven dish with baking parchment and lay the filled pear halves on it.
Add a little butter on each pear, dust with icing sugar and put in the pre-heated oven (180°C) for about 15-20 minutes. The pears have to be nice and golden.
Serve lukewarm decorating the dish with some cocoa powder (lay a fork on the plate, dust with cocoa and the remove the fork) and some whipped cream, if you like.
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