Roasted Pears With Almond Crunch Recipes

Steps:

• Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375°F. Place pears, cut side up, on a small baking sheet, drizzle with 2 teaspoons oil, and roast on upper rack until soft, 20-30 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, toss almonds, pumpkin seeds, brown sugar, oats, salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil on a small baking sheet. Toast on lower rack, stirring occasionally, until golden, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and mix in sesame seeds. Let cool.
• Whisk mascarpone and sugar in a small bowl. Spoon mascarpone onto plates and top with pears and nut-oat crumble.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Arrange the pears, cut sides up, on a baking sheet and dot with butter. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pears are just tender. Let cool.
• Increase the oven heat to 450 degrees F.
• Sprinkle the counter and a rolling pin lightly with flour. Roll the dough out to a 14-inch round, about 1/4-inch thick. It doesn't have to be perfect. Transfer the dough to the back of a lightly floured baking sheet. Slice the pears and arrange them on the dough round by overlapping the slices in a spiral fashion, leaving a 2-inch border all around. Drizzle with the honey, scatter blue cheese over the top, and sprinkle with the almonds.
• Brush the border with the egg wash. Bring the edge of crust over onto the filling, leaving the fruit exposed in center. Gently fold and pinch the dough to seal any cracks. Brush the crust with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is tender. Slide a knife under the crostata to loosen it from the pan. Then cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
• Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg yolk and ice water and work that in with your hands. (Or do the whole thing in a food processor, pulsing a couple of times to combine the dry ingredients, then pulsing in the butter, and then the egg.) Check the consistency of the dough by squeezing a small amount together between thumb and forefingers: You want there to be just enough moisture to bind the dough so that it holds together without being too wet or sticky. If it's still crumbly, add a little more ice water, 1 teaspoon at a time. When you get it to the right consistency, shape the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic. Put it in the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Make almond crunch:
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Whisk together egg white and sugar, then add almonds, stirring until coated. Spread in a thin layer on a buttered baking sheet and bake in middle of oven until golden, 15 to 25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on a rack, then break into pieces.
• Increase oven temperature to 425°F.
• Roast pears:
• Halve pears lengthwise and core (preferably with a melon-ball cutter). Spread butter on bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Arrange pears, cut sides up, on sugar, then brush cut sides with 1 tablespoon Amaretto.
• Roast pears, uncovered, in middle of oven until barely tender, about 25 minutes. Add water, remaining tablespoon Amaretto, and a pinch of salt to baking pan, then baste pears with pan juices. Roast pears, basting twice with pan juices, until tender, about 15 minutes more.
• Serve pears warm or at room temperature, drizzled with pan juices and topped with almond crunch.

Steps:

• Make almond crunch:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment.
• Whisk together egg white, sugar, and salt until sugar is completely dissolved, then add almonds, stirring until coated. Spread mixture in a very thin layer on parchment-lined sheet, spreading almonds away from center of pan.
• Bake until deep golden, 15 to 25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on a rack, then break into pieces.
• Roast pears:
• Increase oven temperature to 425°F.
• Halve pears lengthwise and core with melon-ball cutter or a paring knife.
• Spread 1 tablespoon butter on bottom of an 8-inch square glass baking dish and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.
• Arrange pears, cut sides up, on sugar, then dot pears with remaining tablespoon butter. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon sugar over pears, then drizzle with 1 tablespoon Amaretto.
• Roast pears, uncovered, until barely tender, about 25 minutes (sugar will harden on bottom).
• Add water, a pinch of salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons Amaretto to baking dish and stir (around pears) until sugar is dissolved, then baste pears with pan juices.
• Roast pears, basting twice with pan juices, until tender, about 15 minutes more.
• Serve pears, warm or at room temperature, drizzled with pan juices and topped with almond crunch.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• In an ovenproof 10-inch heavy skillet toast almonds in one layer in middle of oven until golden, about 5 minutes, and transfer to a bowl.
• Halve pears lengthwise and cut each half into 3 wedges, discarding cores. Quarter figs lengthwise.
• In skillet melt sugar and butter over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is melted completely and remove skillet from heat. With a knife halve vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into butter mixture. With a wooden spoon stir in vanilla pod, cinnamon, allspice, pears, and figs until coated and roast in middle of oven 20 minutes, or until pears are just tender. Remove pod and with spoon stir in almonds until coated well.
• Serve fruit mixture warm with sour cream.