This has to be my little Masterpiece, I designed that recipe over 10 years ago, making it a bit more special every time. The idea behind was to make and marry cheese and dessert together; if you have ever been asked for the option in a French restaurant, you will understand. That way, you keep everyone happy… First, you need to get yourselves some pears, but since they are going to be cooked in wine, make sure they are not too soft!
You peel the pears and set them aside for a bit. Now, from the north east of Italy, I got myself some Verduzzo, a good value dessert wine from the Friuli area. Arcania is a great little winery and this native varietal is better drunk as a dessert wine, it is also organic…
Its colour is amazing and the taste is not too sweet. It will save you using Montbazillac, Loupiac or even Sauternes!
Now, what you need to do, is to put the peeled pears in a pan with the full bottle of wine and a couple of small pieces of celery; you cannot leave the kitchen for too long, this should take about 20 minutes for the pears to be soft enough. After 15 minutes, keep poking gently with a knife. Remember that the core doesn’t have to be soft…
While the magic happens, dry roast some nuts; walnut is a classic but my friend gave me some of his own cobnuts which are like hazelnuts, young and fresh. Dry roast means no oil, nothing, just chopped and in a hot pan. The process is very quick, so be careful not to burn them!
Like so…
Before serving, I would like to introduce you to a very old French cheese, subtle and very gentle from the Auvergne region of France. Fourme d’Ambert comes from the Latin “Forma”, meaning “The Shape”. It is believed that “Forma” gave its name to french for cheese “fromage”. And not a lot of people know about that… Joke aside, there it is. You can do this dish with any blues, as long as they are not too strong…
With a pastry ring, cut a slice from the slice the Cheesemonger will give you. Fourme d’Ambert should always be cut as a slice and never halved( it’s a tradition thing, nothing will happen to you). Reduce the wine until it becomes like a caramel texture. Do not be fooled by the texture, acidity in this native grape will come back; when it gains the desired texture, which is syrupy, add a tea spoon of honey… In this case, truffled honey from Piedmont…
So, the time to serve came. I toasted a wee slice of the brioche I made at the weekend ( check the previous post), cut the bottom of the pear, covered it with the caramelized jus and sprinkle the dry nuts until your heart is happy.
And that’s it folks….
Keep well and eat Happy,
Franck
Hungry Breton 
Oh, what a beautiful creation! My mouth is watering to try this. Thank you for the inspiration to create…
Thank you Tim and Joanne, very kind of you to say, it is a very pleasing dish to make ( and not too hard). That way you can have both Cheese and dessert 😉
Another cunning French dish to save on washing up! Must give it a go. Looks fab.
Thanks Declan, it is very tasty… 😀
This sounds just perfect 💛
I have worked on that little dish for many years, but I think I got the final draft now. Thank you 😉
I just love the way you tell the tale, your dish was an instant mouthwatering for me, and that Fourme d’Ambert (note the french accent 😀 ) looks amazing. Never thought about pairing together the word forma and fromage, but makes sense. Also never thought about celery in wine for flavour, and this also makes sense. The colour of that wine brought in mind a dessert wine from Romania, which I didn’t had in such a long time, ‘Lacrima lui Ovidiu’, in translation would be Tear of Ovid (Ovid as in Publius Ovidius Naso). It’s always a pleasure to read your adventures.
Hiya, thank you so much for your lovely message ( and thank you for the tip on the Romanin wine, I will look into that one for sure). I normally do that dish in December, I have a lot of fun with it. Oh, and congratulations on your French accent! 😀