Arguably, the best part about fall is the fruit, and we celebrate it two times over by poaching fresh pears in Beaujolais and topping that with honey-lemon ricotta and crunchy spiced pumpkin seed granola.
Beaujolais-Poached Pears with Spiced Pumpkin Seed Granola and Honey-Lemon Ricotta
4 pears (peeled, halved, and cored)1 bottle Beaujolais wine 1/3 cup honey8 dried juniper berries2 cinnamon sticks1 bay leafknob of ginger (about one inch, sliced)pinch of kosher saltSpiced Pumpkin Seed Granola (recipe follows)Honey-Lemon Ricotta (recipe follows)
Place pear halves cut-side-down into a 12-inch stainless steel frying pan. Pour in the bottle of wine and the honey. Add juniper, cinnamon, bay, ginger, and salt. Place frying pan on the stovetop over medium heat and allow liquid to begin to reduce. Cook for 45 minutes; be sure to flip the pears halfway through this cooking time. When the liquid is syrupy and coats the back of a spoon, remove the pan from the heat. Place pear halves on a serving dish and strain the wine syrup. Reserve the syrup for serving. To serve, place a heaping tablespoon of Honey-Lemon Ricotta into the cored section of each pear. Add Spiced Pumpkin Seed Granola on top. Drizzle with the wine syrup. (Serves 4-6.)
Spiced Pumpkin Seed Granola
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup2 1/2 tablespoons canola oil1 tablespoon light brown sugar1 teaspoon vanilla1/2 teaspoon cinnamonpinch of nutmeg1/2 teaspoon kosher salt1/2 cup rolled oats3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk the brown rice syrup, oil, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until well-incorporated. Pour in the oats and pumpkin seeds and mix until well-coated. Spread granola mixture into a thin layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes; be sure to take out the granola and turn and stir it up halfway through the baking time. Place granola on a plate to cool.
Honey-Lemon Ricotta
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese2 tablespoons honey1 teaspoon vanilla extractzest of 1 lemonpinch of kosher salt
In a medium bowl, whisk ricotta, honey, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt until well-incorporated. Set aside until ready to serve.
You never know what the weather will be like during the holidays in the South. One year we’ll be huddled up inside around our family dining table and hoping the temps rise above freezing, and then the next year, the nephews and nieces will be running barefoot around the backyard while the grown-ups soak up the sun on the patio. On the years when it’s nice out -- and please let’s all keep our fingers crossed for 2014! -- it’s a crying shame to be stuck inside cooking the same old thing. So we’ve created a lightened-up and super-easy main that can be prepared outdoors on the grill.
We call it Roast Beast. We took inspiration from the infamous turducken. What in the world would be a vegetable version of that be? we pondered. What we came up with was a giant and flavorful stack of meaty vegetables with a presentation that bests the turkey or ham or whatever it is everybody else is eating.
Roast Beast
(Special equipment: 3 large metal skewers)
2 large red bell peppers (roasted and peeled)1/2 cup olive oil1 head garlic (peeled, about 10 cloves, smashed)1/4 cup toasted pine nuts2 cups parsley (about one bunch)1/4 cup champagne vinegar4 large portobello mushrooms1 medium Italian eggplant (sliced into 1/2-inch rounds)1 large white onion4 slices of provolone cheese1 1/2 cups cooked orzoBalsamic vinegar (for drizzling)
Preheat your outdoor grill to high. Prepare the roasted red peppers by charring the skins, letting them rest, then peeling and seeding them. Set aside until ready to assemble the dish.
In a small frying pan over the grill grates or on your side burner, heat the olive oil and add the smashed garlic. Cook until just browned. Into the work bowl of your food processor add the olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, parsley, and vinegar. To make the pesto, process ingredients until well-incorporated, but still a little chunky. In a large bowl, toss the portobello and eggplant in with the pesto until well-coated. Reserve the pesto left in the bottom of the bowl.
Add salt and pepper to taste to all ingredients. Thread the vegetables onto a skewer: start with a mushroom and then add a slice of eggplant, half of a roasted red pepper, a slice of provolone, and a slice of onion. (You basically will be making a giant kabob.) Repeat this pattern four times. Press the stack tightly together and pierce it at an angle with the two other skewers.
Grill on a rack positioned slightly above the grill grates for 40 minutes and turn every 10 minutes. Some of the cheese will drip out, but that’s fine. Much of it will melt into the vegetables and add a ton of flavor.
Remove the Roast Beast and allow it to rest for 10 minutes while tented in foil. Serve on top of a bed of orzo. Drizzle with the leftover pesto and some balsamic vinegar. (Serves 4 to 6 as a main dish.)
