While browsing, did you stumble upon my blog thanks to this Delicious Appetizer with Pears, Gorgonzola, and Walnuts? Or did you simply read the title in the search engine and click the link? Or perhaps the photo caught your eye? Or are you part of the community of Le Ricette di Bea for some time now? Whatever brought you into my kitchen today, I’m glad! We will discover a new delicious recipe that you can serve as a appetizer with pears and gorgonzola or a warm spoonable dessert, with melting sweet gorgonzola and the aroma of honey tantalizing our senses.
Do you remember how much I love preparing appetizers? And especially how I love to fill the table with colors? If you don’t remember, it’s perhaps because you haven’t been following me for long, but now that you’ve stumbled upon my blog, you can’t say you weren’t warned! You will indeed find plenty of Appetizers and Aperitifs recipes in their dedicated section because I’m literally crazy about them; I’m in love with tapas-style dishes to serve to my guests!
I think you all have understood by now that I’ve discovered a winning combination to enjoy new dishes that I didn’t want to eat until a while ago. Like all spoiled children, I used to say: “no, I’m not eating that!” Then came Seville, my first trip to Spain, and something changed. You find honey everywhere, along with walnuts and raisins. As a result, all these ingredients have now become a part of my pantry. I reached the age of 38 before realizing that I like honey, I’m getting to know raisins better, I’ve always loved walnuts but now even more, and as for pears, I’m trying to find a compromise with them. What is the combination? The oldest in the world, I’d say, Honey and Walnuts are absolute winners for me!
Before moving on to the Recipe for Pears with Gorgonzola, Walnuts, and Honey, I’ll leave you some links to other recipes you can prepare with the same ingredients, but varying from goat cheese to radicchio, from fennel to delicious and tasty lasagna. Every blue-colored text that follows, when clicked, will take you directly to the recipe you want to read. I hope they are helpful for discovering new, good, easy, and quick dishes to prepare together. I also remind you that I look forward to seeing you every morning with the Recipe of the Day in the group and on the Facebook fan page of the blog. You’ll find all the links to the social profiles in the box below the recipe!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Fall, Winter, and Spring
- Energy 184.65 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 17.24 (g) of which sugars 17.14 (g)
- Proteins 5.53 (g)
- Fat 9.96 (g) of which saturated 4.35 (g)of which unsaturated 2.42 (g)
- Fibers 3.98 (g)
- Sodium 150.70 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 5 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Gorgonzola and Pear Appetizer for Two People:
- 2 Abate pears (in my case)
- 1.76 oz gorgonzola (in my case sweet)
- 10 walnut halves (about 10 pieces)
- 2 tbsps honey (in my case acacia)
Four ingredients for a unique taste: pears, gorgonzola, honey, and walnuts, a perfect marriage, a delicious appetizer or a tasty dessert rich in flavors, all that’s left is to invite guests to dinner!
For this recipe, I chose two beautiful Abate pears that were firm and not too green, let’s say they were ripe but not too soft, as we risk the pear becoming too soft during cooking and losing its texture.
Tools for Pear and Gorgonzola Appetizer with Baked Walnuts:
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Baking sheet
- 1 Parchment paper
- 1 Scoop
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Oven
- 2 Teaspoons
Don’t be intimidated by the list of tools for this recipe, we’ll take only a few minutes for preparation, and then straight into the oven!
Steps for the Baked Pears, Gorgonzola, Honey, and Walnuts Recipe
The recipe is very simple, it’s more about assembling ingredients than actual preparation, so the first thing I advise is to turn on the oven on static mode at 350 to 375 degrees as I did. Then we wash the pears and pat them dry. We won’t remove the skin, as it will help keep the fruit steady during cooking.
Place the pears on the wooden cutting board and use a knife without serrations to split them in half. With the help of a scoop, remove the central part of each pear half, where the seeds and hard core are located. This way, we’ll have created a nest for the gorgonzola, walnuts, and honey.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a rectangular baking sheet and arrange our four pear halves directly on it. Our gorgonzola and pear appetizer is almost ready for the oven.
Open the gorgonzola package, in my case a sweet gorgonzola, and use two teaspoons to create cheese balls to place in the center of the Abate pear. Break the walnut halves and place them directly on top of the cheese. Use a teaspoon to drizzle the honey over the other ingredients, and don’t be stingy with it. You can substitute the gorgonzola with spreadable goat cheese if you prefer a milder and less salty flavor. Especially if you choose to serve this dish as a dessert, the goat cheese is definitely sweeter than gorgonzola.
Bake the pears with gorgonzola, walnuts, and honey and let cook for about 15 minutes. I’ve never changed the oven temperature, just rotated the baking sheet by reversing the order around 10 minutes. The pears closer to the fan were more golden, so by changing this factor, the other two that were closer to the glass became nicely golden on the surface. A small detail to keep in mind!
Serve our appetizer with pears, gorgonzola, honey, and walnuts nice and hot and cheesy, perhaps with a nice bubbly drink which never hurts! As you saw in the video recipe below the first photo, this recipe is very simple, two steps, just 15 minutes of cooking for a delicious, tasty and flavor-rich dish.
The Sweet Gorgonzola Pears with Honey and Walnuts can be served all year, varying the type of pear obviously. I’m sure you will impress your family or your friends and guests, as they look great when plated with care. I recommend serving with a dessert knife and fork to enjoy this dish. The spoon might not be sufficient because, not having precooked the pears before adding other ingredients, they remain firm with skin that is crispy to the bite.
I can only wish you bon appétit and remind you that I’m waiting for you every day here in my kitchen with many easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one!!!
If you want to also serve a pear dessert, I recommend the Pear and Chocolate Cake, super delicious, easy, and perfect for finishing dinner with friends!
Variations for the Pears with Gorgonzola Recipe
Baked Honey and Walnuts
As mentioned in the recipe text, you can change the type of cheese, from sweet gorgonzola to the classic one if you already have it in the fridge, or switch to a less salty goat cheese. You can also add raisins, which go well with honey and walnuts. You can obviously change the type of pear according to your tastes, the season, and the price. You can then replace walnuts with pine nuts, another great classic but now super expensive. There’s also the variation from honey to maple syrup, which I haven’t tested yet. Perhaps you could tell me how it turns out by writing it in the comments below this recipe.
