Stilton, an English blue cheese, is a classic accompaniment for pears. Use ripe but firm pears that will hold their shape once cooked. You can substitute toasted walnuts for pecans. Fruit dessert recipes make wonderful endings to Fall meals.
Superb! Have been making these for a few year now. Even friends who don't like blue cheese love them. Usually use Stilton but I also use Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue, when I can get it. The smokey flavour adds an extra, yummy dimension to the dish. I urge anyone to make this dish. It is not difficult but the result is sublime.
Rather than cooking and filling standing pears, I cut them in half and stuffed them, thinking that they would be much easier to eat. The taste is good, but I think that by halving the sugar, they would be even better. I felt that the taste and texture of the English Stilton that I used was overwhelmed by the sugar.
I waited 6 years to make this recipe because I was intimidated by the presentation. I finally cheated. I did not peel the pears, I cut them in half, cored them and placed them cut side up in a baking dish. Then I simply "stuffed" the halves. I had no port so I used red wine. The result was divine. I will absolutely make them again using my less fancy method. I'm only sorry I waited to so long!
Love these pears! Definitely special occasion worthy. They look fancy and like they are much harder to make than they actually are. I also made them for Christmas dinner and I think it took me a little longer to prep only because I had to core with a knife. I would absolutely recommend having a corer on hand! I added additional nuts and cheese (also used crumbled gorg) and used medium sized pears. I had to cut the bottoms to level them out, but the stuffing stays put-- just serve with a spatula to avoid losing your contents. I also basted the pears every now and then with the juice in the pan to keep them nice and moist. Don't forget to save the pear stems-- they make such pretty tops. I used cognac in place of the port. Tasted great and everyone loved the dish. This recipe is a keeper-- will def make these again!
This is a dish to impress. Every time I make this for someone they just rave about it. It's easy to make and never fails to taste great. I've made it with the Stilton and also Gorgonzola and both are great. Don't use over ripe pears as it will cook too soft.
