Crisp Poached Pears Stuffed with Chevre & Haroseth

Crisp Poached Pears Stuffed with Chevre & Haroseth served over a Pomegranate Molasses Sauce ~ Sweet and savory with a dash of tart—your tastebuds will be wondering where has this lovely dish been.

This is my first submission for the Paper Chef challenge. The challenge provides the participants a set of ingredients and that’s it. No recipe, just your baking hands and some creativity.

This month’s ingredients included:  dried dates, cranberries, flour, candied orange peel.

My first thoughts of course went in the way of date bars and muffins. Wanting to stretch myself as a baker I pitched all that aside and went with what you see here.

Let me say, I’m quite happy with the end result. The pairing of sweet and savory is perfectly tuned between the chevre and haroseth while the pear provides a nice fruity and textural break between the two. But what I love most in this recipe is the pomegranate molasses sauce. The subtle tartness of the sauce ties it all together for a perfect bite that hits almost all your tasting thrills in harmony.

Having said that, I decided there are a few things I would do differently next time. I realized I should have poached the pears in wine for some coloring, since the haroseth provided much of the same flavors I poached the pears with. As for the phyllo wrap, next time I will brush each sheet with a honey-almond butter combination for added flavor and sweetness.

This is an easy recipe, but I will admit it takes some time as a few of the components need resting in between. My suggestion is poach your pears and make the sauce the night before and assemble the day of serving.

A few notes:

• Haroseth is a mixture of fruits, nuts and spices that is generally served at Passover. Haroseth recipes also differ according to the country of origin.
• I used store bought phyllo to cut down on the time and truth be told I made it once and hated every moment of it.

Ingredients:

Poach Pears:

• 4 Bosc pears; peeled,
• 5 cups water
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ cloves
• ½ lemon

Pomegrante Molasses:

• 2 cups of Pomegranate juice
• 1/2 cranberry
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Cranberry, Date and Pistachio Haroseth:

• 1/3 cup whole salted almonds with skin, toasted and cooled
• 2/3 cup unsalted shelled pistachios
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup pitted dried dates, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup Sherry
• 2 tablespoon orange zest, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of orange juice

Instructions:

Poach Pears:

1. In a large saucepan, add water, sugar, lemon and spices heat to a soft boil and until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Gently place pears in the water and cover with a round of parchment paper, with a small hole cut in the center.
3. Keep the liquid at a low simmer. Cook pears for 15 to 25 minutes or until pears can easily be poked through with a fork.
4. Remove from heat and transfer pears and liquid to a heat proof bowl. Cool overnight.

Pomegrante Molasses:

1. In a medium sauce pan, add pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice heat to boil then lower heat to low. Let sauce simmer until it reduces by half. Cool overnight.

Cranberry, Date and Pistachio Haroseth:

1. Pulse nuts in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add dried fruit and pulse until chopped. Add sherry, zest, spices, and juices and pulse until incorporated.

Chevre – 5oz  Chevre

Assembly:

1. Cut Haroseth into the chevre and form ¾ inch balls.

2. Using a paring knife, start 1/2 an inch down from top of pear, carefullysplit the pears.Remove seeds and dig a deeper well with a melon baller. Fill well with chevre and Haroseth ball.

3. Gently close pear with filling inside and wrap each pear with fours sheets of phyllo. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until phyllo becomes golden in color.

4. Cool baked pears for 15 minutes. Fill a small bowl an1/8 inch of Pomegranate molasses and place baked pears on top of sauce.