Pear And Blue Cheese Soup Recipes

PEAR SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat broiler.
• Peel, halve and core the pears. In a large bowl, toss pears with lemon juice to prevent oxidization. Melt butter in an ovenproof skillet over medium-low heat, let cook until butter begins to brown. Add sage to butter, allow to caramelize. Add brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Add pears to mixture, and roll them around to coat thoroughly.
• Broil pears in skillet, stirring occasionally, until pears are light brown, about 15 minutes.
• Puree pears and brown butter mixture in a blender until smooth. Pour into room temperature soup plates and serve with Blue Cheese Bruschetta. If preparing ahead of time, refrigerate and reheat slightly before serving.
• Preheat broiler.
• Slice loaf into finger-wide slices. Cover each slice with butter, then top with blue cheese. Place bread on cookie sheet and broil, with the door open, until the cheese begins to melt, about 30 seconds.
• Yield: 5 to 8 servings

CHEDDAR PEAR SOUP

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat; saute onion and garlic until tender, 7-9 minutes. Stir in flour and paprika until blended; cook and stir 2 minutes. Gradually stir in broth. Add chopped pears; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until pears are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally., Puree soup using an immersion blender or cool slightly and puree soup in batches in a blender; return to pan. Add cheese and pepper; cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted, 3-5 minutes. If desired, top with pear slices.

ROASTED PEARS WITH BLUE CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Peel the pears and slice them lengthwise into halves. With a small sharp paring knife and a melon baller, remove the core and seeds from each pear, leaving a round well for the filling. Trim a small slice away from the rounded sides of each pear half so that they will sit in the baking dish without wobbling. Toss the pears with some lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Arrange them, core side up, in a baking dish large enough to hold the pears snugly.
• Gently toss the crumbled blue cheese, dried cranberries, and walnuts together in a small bowl. Divide the mixture among the pears, mounding it on top of the indentation.
• In the same small bowl, combine the apple cider, port, and brown sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the mixture over and around the pears. Bake the pears, basting occasionally with the cider mixture, for 30 minutes, or until tender. Set aside until warm or at room temperature.
• Just before serving, whisk together the olive oil, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of the basting liquid in a large bowl. Divide the arugula among 6 plates and top each with a pear half. Drizzle each pear with some of the basting liquid, sprinkle with salt, and serve warm.

PEAR AND BLUE CHEESE SOUP

Steps:

• 1. Soften the diced onion and garlic in butter over low heat for 5 minutes being careful no to color.
• 2. Chop the cored pears, add to the butter mixture and heat for about 2 minutes.
• 3. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook for about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and stir until smooth. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
• 4. Crumble the Cashel blue cheese and hold a little back for garnish. Add cheese to the liquid. To serve, sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.
• 5. My note: Any blue cheese will work. Cashel is a place in Ireland where this blue cheese is made.

SWEET POTATO & PEAR SOUP

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large pot over a medium heat, and sauté onion for 2-3 minutes until softened but not brown.
• Add the diced sweet potato and diced pear, and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
• If using canned pears, only sauté the diced sweet potato at this stage and add the pears later.
• Add the chicken broth to the pot, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes, or until the sweet potato (and pears) are soft.
• If including wine in your soup, add this in the last 10 minutes while the soup is simmering.
• Cool the soup for about 30 minutes.
• If using canned pears, drain these well, reserve the juice and add the pears now.
• They will help to cool down the soup.
• There is no need to chop the pears as the soup is about to be processed.
• In batches, process the chicken broth, sweet potatoes and pears until smooth in a blender or a food processor.
• Adjust the thickness of the soup so that it is to your liking by adding either more pears or some of the reserved pear juice, or more wine.
• Return the soup to the pot.
• If serving straight away: gently reheat, without bringing to the boil, stir in a swirl of yogurt and garnish with fresh mint or parsley.
• If serving later: refrigerate after processing.
• If taking to work for lunch: take the required quantity of yogurt in a separate container and spoon onto soup after it has been heated in the microwave.
• If freezing: freeze after processing.
• When ready to serve, defrost, gently reheat, without bringing to the boil, stir in a swirl of yogurt and garnish with fresh mint or parsley.