Roasted Cheese-Stuffed Pears with Arugula, Cranberries, & Walnuts

I am what one might call a hoarder. A hoarder of recipes, that is. I have hundreds (literally, hundreds) of recipes saved to try “someday.” Many I’ve made, many I’ve not. For some reason, I keep adding onto my collection, rather than working my way through what I already have. I blame my large collection of cookbooks, Pinterest, the Food Network, and my obsession with food blogs. Not that I’m REALLY complaining about having too many food ideas in my head, but sometimes it’s hard to narrow down exactly what you want to try in real life.

This salad is one of the recipes I’ve had saved for a few years now. It’s been on the imaginary “make next” list for MONTHS. And now that I’ve finally made it, I can’t believe I waited this long.

Pears roasted in apple cider? OMG so good. Stuffed with CHEESE? Holy crap. I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why I didn’t make these sooner…

Just look at the cheese. Looks kinda like cheese frosting, doesn’t it? Um, ew. Let’s just pretend I didn’t say that.

Anyone else want to eat ONLY that particular piece of the pear? I may have sampled a few of the cheese-only parts….don’t judge me.

The apple cider is mixed with some brown sugar and used as a braising liquid for the pears as they roast. It gets sticky and sweet and almost caramel-y.  The cheese filling is a mix of gorgonzola and feta cheeses. If you don’t care for either of them, feel free to swap with something else, but make sure you are using a SHARP cheese for this recipe. The pears and apple cider mixture tend to be very sweet, so you definitely need something sharp and salty to counterbalance it.

Then, serve it over greens! Because greens totally make this healthy, right? That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

For the Pears:

3 ripe but firm Bosc pears

Juice of 1 lemon

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 oz gorgonzola cheese

2 oz feta cheese

¼ cup finely chopped toasted walnuts

¼ cup dried cranberries

½ cup apple cider

2 tablespoons brown sugar

 

For the Dressing:

Juice of 1 lemon

½ cup of the pear basting liquid

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

¼ cup extra-virgin olive-oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

 

For the Salad:

Baby arugula

½ cup toasted walnut halves

½ cup dried cranberries

 

For the Pears:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Slice the pears lengthwise into halves and remove the core and seeds from each pear. I used a melon baller to make this easier. Place them in a baking dish and squeeze the lemon juice over top so they do not brown.

2. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, gorgonzola, and feta, whipping until smooth. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries and season the mixture with salt and pepper. Spoon the filling into each of the wells in the pears, generously filling each one.

3. Whisk together the apple cider and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the mixture over and around the pears and place the baking dish in the oven for 25-35 minutes. Baste the pears with the cider mixture a couple times throughout the baking process. The pears are done when they are fork tender and the filling is lightly brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

For the Dressing:

Whisk together the ingredients until well combined.

To Assemble:

Toss the arugula with the dressing and then transfer to a large serving platter. Sprinkle on the walnuts and cranberries and top with the roasted pears. Drizzle more dressing over the top and enjoy!

Hmm. I wonder what other gems I can find in my recipe archives….