In the kitchen
How to store Pear
Ripen in a fruit bowl. When ripe keep in the bottom of the fridge and eat within a couple of days. Straight from the farm, so please wash before eating.
Easy ideas
1. Salads
Cut into a dice, slices or thin matchsticks they are wonderful thrown into a salad. In fact they are better slightly under-ripe as they are crisp and not too cloyingly sweet. Try a simple combo of hazelnuts, blue cheese and bitter salad leaves, simply dressed. Try them in a slaw with some beetroot, red cabbage and onion. Dress with crème fraîche and mustard.
2. Pickled
A simple and lightly cooked side. Perfect with pork, game or even a sharp crumbly cheese. Peel and dice 2 pears. Sauté them lightly in a little butter for a few mins before adding 3 tbsp cider vinegar and 1 tbsp light muscovado sugar. Simmer for about 5 mins until just softening. Flavour with a little fresh thyme and maybe a pinch of allspice. Season with salt and pepper. Gets better after a few days in the fridge.
3. Roasted
Peel and halve 3 pears. Scoop out the cores with a spoon. For a sweet treat throw them in a roasting tin with a split vanilla pod, a generous slug of perry or dessert wine, a knob of butter and a drizzle of honey. Bake for 20-30 mins at 180˚C/Gas 4 until tender. Turn and baste at regular intervals. Serve with mascarpone and toasted almonds. For something savoury, tuck them under roasting pork or duck with some rosemary, bay and a glass of white wine for the final 30 mins in the oven.
Pear recipes
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Avocado, spinach and pear smoothie
Serves: 1 Total time: 5 min
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Spiced pears with raspberries
Serves: 4 Total time: 55 min
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Bacon, pear and blue cheese salad with honeyeed walnuts and parsnip crisps
Serves: 4 Total time: 20 min
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Vegan christmas pudding and pear mess
Serves: 4 Total time: 3h
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Pear, parsnip and red cabbage slaw
Serves: 6 Total time: 15 min
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Winter salad with spiced pecans, pears and Devon Blue
Serves: 4 Total time: 20 min
In the field
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Meet the grower: Paul Ward , Cranbrook, Kent
Paul Ward runs Mole End Farm in Kent - he’s committed to proving that the results of organic farming can be just as good (and better!) than conventionally farmed fruit.
UK seasonality
Pear varieties
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Abate pears
Abate pears – Italy’s favourite variety – are sweet and fragrant, with meltingly soft flesh.
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Bosc pears
Bosc pears are crisp and juicy, with a very sweet, woodsily spiced flavour. Perfect for eating raw or cooking.
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Comice pears
Comice pears are an exceptionally sweet French heritage variety. Best enjoyed raw – their soft, juicy flesh won’t stand up well to cooking.
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Conference pears
Recognisable for their elegant long necks and russeted green skin, Conference pears have buttery soft and juicy flesh, with an intensely sweet flavour.
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Packham pears
Under their bumpy skin, Packham pears are smooth, sweet and juicy, with a distinctive aromatic flavour.