Balsamic Pears with Honey Black Pepper Cream

Everyone who knows me knows that I love pepper…I put it on everything. People seem most surprised when I add fresh cracked pepper to fruit (sidenote—it is so good on cantaloupe). When I saw a recipe in Health magazine for balsamic poached pears, I knew I had to play around with it. The combination of sweet and savory in a low glycemic dessert was too good to pass up. I love the use of Bosc pears, which are available in most grocery stores year round.


Pears are a good source of vitamin C, folate and dietary fiber. This recipe leaves the skin of the pear on, which is important considering most of the vitamin C content is in the skin.  Pears provide some potassium and iron, but most importantly pectin and cellulose. Pectin is a soluble fiber that helps control cholesterol levels and cellulose is an insoluble fiber that regulates digestion. There is no refined sugar in this recipe, only honey. 

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INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Bosc Pears, cleaned well, sliced in half and cored
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

• 8 Fl OZ (236 mL) heavy whipping cream, organic if possible
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper (finely ground), plus more for finishing the dish

 DIRECTIONS:


Preheat oven to 400 F. Whisk honey and balsamic vinegar together.

Pour melted butter into a baking pan. Arrange pears, on top of butter, cut side down. Roast for 20 minutes.


Pour balsamic mixture over the pears and roast for about 10 minutes more. You may choose to occasionally baste the pears with sauce during these 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, whip the heavy cream with the honey and the freshly cracked
black pepper.

Place each pear on a plate, cut side up. Whisk together the sauce that has now formed in the pan and spoon it over the pears. Top with the freshly whipped cream and sprinkle with extra pepper to your liking.