Baked pears with gorgonzola and honey recipe

The quirky flavor combination of cheese and honey is recently very much in style on Italian dinner tables. I have adapted that to the ancient Italian maxim that reads Al contadino non far sapere quant'è buono il formaggio con le pere (don't let the farmer know how tasty his pears are, eaten with cheese–intending that once he finds out, he won't share his pears with you).

This 10-minute marvel will gratify your tastebuds and have you imploring il contadino for more.

4 large Williams (aka Bartlett) pears
200 g (2 cups) sharp Gorgonzola
1 oz fluid honey

Pine nuts, lightly toasated

Heat the oven at 200° C (390° F).

Blanch the pears by soaking them in boiling hot water for 2 minutes, then cut them in half, and scoop out about 1/2 inch of the central pulp, to remove seeds.

Place pear halves on a greased cookie sheet flat face up, and cover them evenly with thick, messy slices of sharp Gorgonzola.

Bake pears in the oven for a few minutes, or until the cheese has fully melted, and begins to bubble slightly.

Carefully transfer on a serving platter and drizzle with warm honey and garnish with toasted pine nuts. Serve with bold red wine as a prelude to robust meat courses and hefty lasagna, or simply as a restoring midnight tonic.

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. 

–– Luciano Pavarotti