Baked Pears with Chocolate and Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 medium pear(s), ripe but firm, halved and cored
• ¹/₂ tsp salted butter, melted
• 1 cup(s) unsweetened frozen raspberries
• 1 Tbsp sugar, granulated
• 1 Tbsp semisweet chocolate chips, chopped (or use mini chips)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Arrange pears, cut sides-up, in a shallow baking dish; brush with melted butter. Bake until tender, 30-35 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make raspberry sauce, put raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, mashing berries with a wooden spoon against bottom and sides of pan. Reduce heat to low; simmer until raspberries are very soft, 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and strain sauce through a sieve, pressing on mixture to extract as much liquid as possible; set aside.

When pears are finished baking, turn off oven. Fill each pear cavity with 1/2 teaspoon chocolate chips; return to oven so chocolate can start to melt, 5 minutes.

Remove pears from oven; let stand 1 minute. Drizzle with raspberry sauce (or spoon sauce on a plate and place pear on top); serve.

Serving size: 1 pear half and 2 teaspoons raspberry sauce

 

 

Apple Pear Pie

Ingredients

• Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
• 3 medium ripe pears, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 medium tart Apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon whole milk

Directions

 

• Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry; trim to 1 in. beyond edge of plate. In a large bowl, combine the pears, apples, 1 cup sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Transfer mixture to crust; dot with butter.
• Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; cut slits or decorative cutouts in pastry. Place over filling; trim, seal and flute edges. Add decorative cutouts if desired. Brush with milk; sprinkle with remaining sugar. Cover edges loosely with foil.
• Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake 30-35 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.  Yield: 8 servings.

Original recipe available from Taste of Home & Gardens