Input requested: Ideas for using pears?

My family has a pear tree and lots of extra pears this year so my mom shared two big grocery sacks full of pears with us this week. I've been having fun coming up with creative ways to use them.

I've already made some pear sauce and am thinking of pear muffins or pear crisp, but I'd love to hear any and all ideas you all might have for ways to use the abundance of pears I have on my hands right now. I'm especially looking for very inexpensive, fairly simple ideas which are also nutritious.

Any input? I'll share what I end up doing with them in a post soon!

Comments

[Rachel]

hello-
Baked Pears with a glace' sauce (raisins included) are pretty tasty.
Other than that- I can everything! You can hot water bath can pears in their own juice or very light syrup- process them for a few minutes and have tasty pears for later- possibly even to use in your pear crisp recipe?! :)
But like I said- I can everything, so this is always my response to these types of scenarios. :)

[Sibyl]

My family always loved pear preserves. You use a canner to make them. They were good on toast or biscuits.

[Dona]

So funny you would bring up pears. We are studying the Romans and our book has a recipe in it for Patina De Piris which means Pear Soufle....We are planning to make this tomorrow so I can not vouch for how it tastes....But it is apparently a dish that Ancient Romand enjoyed eating..

2 lbs of pears (peeled and cored
6 eggs (beaten)
4 tbls of honey
a little bit of oil
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cumin
ground pepper to taste

Mash the pears together with pepper, cumin, honey and a bit of oil. Add the beaten eggs and put inot a casserole. Cook approximately 30 min. Serve with a little pepper on top.

This recipe came from a children's book titled 100 Things You should know about Ancient Rome.

Again please note that I have not tried this recipe, but intend to tomorrow for a homeschool project. We are not big on peppering our food so I will likely leave that out.

Enjoy!

[Rachel M.]

I have made pear crisp before and it always seems to come out too watery. When it comes to a crisp, apple is much better (and I have found Empire apples to make the best apple crisp). You could make pear butter in the crockpot and freeze it if you don't want to go through the canning process.

[Cortney]

Pear butter... It's fairly simple and inexpensive. Do you have a water bath caner? There is a way to do it without canning it.. I can email you the recipe I use.. Just let me know..

[Finance Girl]

Blushing Pears are a cheap, tasty dessert:

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/blushing-pears-62480.aspx

[Jen]

Do you have a dehydrator? My girlfriend makes dried pears every year with hers. She knows its my favorite Christmas treat. Well, that and her vanilla creme fudge!

[Tiffany]

Dehydrated pears are one of our favorite winter snacks! We also made apple/pear sauce for the first time this year and it's yummy. Oh and speaking of healthy, we used either concentrated apple juice or apple cider to sweeten it. VERY little sugar is needed if any.

[Cortney]

Oh i forgot! This is great frozen as well.. It is really simple..

[Amanda]

My family likes to buy up the cheap discounted pears at the grocers that might be a bit bruised. We then chop them up into little bits, and set them into jelly (or as you Americans would say it, Jell-o) in summer for a tasty, yet nutritious cool treat! The best bit? Minimal time and effort!

[Heather]

How about just canning them? You could then have them a lot longer. Or you could freeze them in quart bags, and have "fresh" pears or pear sauce whenever you want by defrosting them.

[Lynne]

Do you have a dehydrator? Dried pears are really good! They're a great snack food. (If you don't have a dehydrator, I think you could also dry them in the oven.)

[Tricia]

A neighbor of mine made pear preserves, the boys loved them.

[RebeccaC]

Oh, I love pears! They are my favorite fruit. I wish we had access to a productive pear tree!
If I were you, I'd just make as much pear sauce as I possibly could (because it freezes and cans well) and use it on absolutely everything: toast, pb&j instead of the j, replacing oil in cakes and muffins, topping jamprint cookies. Yum.
But we also like pears diced and cooked in pancakes, and sliced and dipped into melted dark chocolate. Have a fondue party with some of that free Walgreen's chocolate of a few weeks ago!
And don't forget: make and freeze baby food!

[Stephanie]

Pear butter (like apple butter, but with pears)
Dried for use later
Pear Chips (?)
Cut up on yogurt
Baked into bread and frozen
Canned or frozen as diced pears

[Rachel Smith]

I modified a recipe from Cooking Light to make Pear Walnut bread. It was delicious and healthy!

http://husbandwifehappylife.blogspot.com/2008/09/little-experimentation.html

[Whitney]

We also have an overabundance of free pears - and they are delicious as the star of a salad! Just toss with lemon juice to avoid browning. They pair really well with walnuts and blue cheese.

Also, an incredibly simple cobbler recipe is just 4 cups of fruit, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 egg and 6 tbls melted butter. Place the fruit in a greased glass baking dish, combine the sugar, flour and egg until crumbly and use to top the fruit. Drizzle with melted butter and bake for 45 minutes at 375 (35 minutes in a convection oven). Add cinnamon to the pears beforehand if desired. I make this recipe several times a week during any season when we receive free fruit (cherries, apples, peaches) and it works well with all of them.

[Honey]

I love pear crisp. Its easy -you don't even need a recipe. Wash, peel and slice pears. Pour melted butter over them. Mix a little flour, oats, sugar, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over top and place them in over 350 for about 25 minutes or until tender. I also love themsliced and peeled in plain yogurt. How nice of your mom to share with you!

[Frugal Freebies and Deals]

I think you can pretty much do anything with pears as you do with apples- Pies, tarts, can them, pear sauce, cinnamon pears..ect

[sandy]

Pear smoothies with frozen bananas, Pear pie, Pear Jam, dice pears and freeze them and eat them as snack!!! (thaw them a little b4 eat them). Mix them with yogurt b4 serving yogurt.... i love pears, if i were you, i will just eat them all day long. can i have some

[Grace]

Hi Crystal,

I love both your blogs and benefit from them daily!

A friend gave us an abundance of pears a few months ago and, after searching online for easy recipes, the easiest I found was the pear sauce (I'm also expecting my third baby--so easy was the only thing I could do!). I guess it's a little boring to only do one thing, but my family has benefited from having the pear sauce on hand since it's a nice alternative to apple sauce. Another idea is to substitute it for apple sauce in muffins or apple sauce cookies. Have fun, but don't wear yourself out!

[Mama Hen]

We have two pear trees that produce abundantely every year. I can them just as sliced pears to eat throughout the winter, make pear jam, and you can also make pear jelly using the juice from the pear (but this one is a lot of work and I did not do it after the one time). My favorite is Pear-Pineapple Sauce. Mix diced pears and crushed canned pineapple together in a saucepan (just do 50/50) and cover with sugar. Let them cook down until the sugar melts and mixture becomes thick. Process for 15 min in a water bath canner. This is probably not too healthy, but it is delicious! Very good over biscuits or sliced ham for supper.

[Jamie]

What about pear butter? I've been canning apples like crazy and have been making apple core & peeling jelly with the leftovers that would just have been tossed. I assume you could make jelly out of pears too? That's something you could make regardless of what you do with the rest of the pears.

[Jamie]

What about pear butter? I've been canning apples like crazy and have been making apple core & peeling jelly with the leftovers that would just have been tossed. I assume you could make jelly out of pears too? That's something you could make regardless of what you do with the rest of the pears.

[Trinity]

I heard that a pear cranberry pie is wonderful!!!

Pear Cranberry Pastry Perfection

For the crust:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
For the filling:

1 cup pecan pieces, toasted
1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar (we used Sucanat)
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
2 1/2 pounds of pears, peeled, cored, cut into medium pieces
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, in pieces
2 tablespoons instant tapioca
1 large egg
sanding sugar (optional)
Gruyere cheese, grated (optional)
1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour and the salt. Add the butter. Pulse until mostly crumbly with some large pieces. With machine running, add 4 tablespoons of the water. Process until dough just holds together. If it is too dry, add remaining water as needed. Dough should not be wet. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap. Divide in half. Press each half together into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate one hour or overnight.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of the dough to a 12-inch circle. Brush off excess flour. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Press the edges down around the inside. Trim dough to a half inch over dish. Roll out remaining disk of dough. Transfer disk to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill pie shell and disk of dough. If desired, roll the remaining dough scraps into a think disk. Cut out shapes with a small cookie cutter. Chill the shapes on a baking sheet with the disk of dough.

3. In a large bowl combine the pecans, cinnamon, salt, sugar, cranberries, pears, butter, and tapioca. Toss well. Transfer the mixture to the cold pie shell.

4. Whisk egg with 2 teaspoons of water. Brush the egg glaze around the rim of the dough. Transfer the cold disk of dough on top, press down gently. Press the top and bottom pieces of dough together, around the rim. Trim the top dough with scissors to about 1 inch. Fold it under. Crimp the edge of the pie as desired.

5. Brush the surface and edges of the pie with the egg wash. Make 3 slits in the top for steam to escape. If using, apply the cold shapes to the top of the pie with the egg wash. Sprinkle sugar over the top if desired, or grate a bit of Gruyere cheese into the crust. Freeze pie for 30 minutes to firm up the butter. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. with a rack in the lower third.

6. Bake until the crust begins to brown, about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Continue to bake until crust is richly golden brown, rotating as needed, 40 - 55 minutes. Transfer pie to wire cooling rack. Cut when cool.

[KarenElizabeth]

My husband and I have been enjoying pears in our salads. Toss spinach leaves, walnuts, and pears with balsamic vinaigrette. It is tasty and healthy! You can add some diced, cooked chicken and serve it as a meal.

[Julie C]

We had free pears from an acquaintance here in town and have been making pear butter, pear sauce, pear sorbet, pear cake, and pears in green salad with nuts and raspberry vinegarette or in fruit salad (kids like it in Jello, too.) One year she gave us so many we canned 250 quarts and 100 pints; that lasted us almost 3 years. :o)

ENJOY!

[Katie]

If you have a dehydrator, slice your pears, but them in sugar water with a tsp of karo syrup and dehydrate them for YUMMY snacks of pear slices! We LOVE them at our house!

[Rean Day]

There is a recipe for "Pear Honey" on kellishouse.blogspot.com, that could be fun.

[Lynn]

Dry them or make fruit leather. It would make great snacks.

[Lizzy Language]

Pear-Gorganzola Pizza

Sliced pears
Gorganzola cheese
Chicken (you can omit this)
Sweet BBQ sauce
Pre-made pizza crust
carmelized onions (email me or leave me a comment to find out how to do this if you don't know how)

Spread BBQ sauce on pizza
Sprinkle carmelized onions, chicken, and cheese on crust.
Fan out sliced pears around the crust. Bake according to the pizza crust directions. I promise, this is soooo good!

[Erika]

pear butter is delicious--sometimes needs a little bit of sweetener depending on the ripeness of the fruit. and easy--just cook down the sauce, add the sweetener (even just apple or orange juice concentrate), season to taste (nutmeg is simple)--and enjoy on some of those baked goods!

[Melanie]

I don't have canning equipment, nor do I know how to can, but I have made "canned pears" by just simmering pears on the stovetop in sugar water. Just put in however much sugar you're comfortable with. Then you could put them in containers and freeze them.

[Lynette E]

This pear bread recipe is GREAT! It's inexpensive to make and tastes yummy.

Pear Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup plain yogurt (may substitute sour cream or buttermilk)
1 cup diced pears, peeled
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions
Cream butter & sugar; beat in eggs, one at a time. In another bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda & nutmeg. Add alternately to creamed mixture with yogurt; stir in pears & vanilla. Spoon batter into one 9x5" or three mini (5 3/4x3x2") loaf pan(s). Bake in a preheat 350° oven for 55-60 minutes for the 9x5" pan or about 30 minutes for the mini loaves. Bread is done when toothpick tests done & golden brown on top.

[Kristen]

loooooove pears, and two of our favorites are Pear Cream Pie and Baked Pear Frittata (did I spell that right?) for breakfast. I will not pretend these are low-fat, b/c I do not cook/bake low-fat, being of the mind that food should taste good, and then you should be active. you can email me if you'd like recipes. good luck! I'd probably also try pear butter...wouldn't that be great on homemade toast???

[Sabrina Lawrence]

I used to get Pears every year from Harry & David for Christmas gift. We did not eat pears so I made Pear cake that was wonderful. Very moist. Fam could not even tell there were pears in it. I don't still have the recipe but I am sure you can find one online.

[anna]

All the ideas mentioned sound amazing. We love pears. If they are mushy I puree them and we use it over pancakes/french toast. Nice change from syrup and if they were just given to you FREE!
Happy day.

[Nancy]

Sort of lame and you might of already done this, but go to allrecipes.com and type in pears and see what pops up. I am always doing that when I get great deals on produce. :) We had the best potato dish last weekend since I had a ton of potatoes since I got a 7lb bag for 99cents last week. :)

[Kathryn]

I like to slice pears into a mixed green salad, along with some toasted pecans and crumbled blue cheese, tossed with a homemade vinaigrette - delicious!

[carla]

I love cottage cheese with cut up pears!!

[Melissa K]

I've received an abundance from my mother-in-law this year and have made pear butter and am going to make No-Peel Pear Cake tonight. (The recipe is originally for No-Peel Apple Cake, but I'm using what I have!)

recipe: http://www.reluctantentertainer.com/2008/10/no-peel-apple-cake-and-winner.html

[Holly]

Here is a link to a post I did with my recipe for pear bread and pear preserves. I made pear muffins with some of my batter. They taste similar to banana bread. The pear preserves is not for the bread- it is a very sweet preserve for biscuits or something more bland or you will get high on sugar!

http://southernseven.blogspot.com/2008/09/pear-muffins-and-pear-preserves.html

[Kristin]

I work for Jenny Craig and on there website under thanksgiving webasode they have a recipe for a carmalized pear salad. that is super easy and super cheep!!!

[Melissa K]

I've received an abundance from my mother-in-law this year and have made pear butter and am going to make No-Peel Pear Cake tonight. (The recipe is originally for No-Peel Apple Cake, but I'm using what I have!)

recipe: http://www.reluctantentertainer.com/2008/10/no-peel-apple-cake-and-winner.html

[Emily @ Little Home]

You should make some No-Peel Pear Cake!

I have only made the apple version, and it is so easy and yummy... but the gal I got the recipe from says to try it with pears, too!

Here is the link to my blog when I made it with apples:
http://littlehomeontherange.blogspot.com/2008/10/no-peel-apple-cake.html

Here is the link to the original site when she made it with pears:
http://www.reluctantentertainer.com/2008/10/if-you-think-apples-were-good-try-pears.html

[Cherilyn]

This is not very inexpensive but very tasty - I made it one year in abundance and sold it in jars at a craft fair. You can make it into tarts or pies.

Pear Mincemeat

7 pounds ground up pears
1 pound ground up raisins
2/3 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 pounds sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Cook until thick and put in jars.

[Hannah]

definitely pear crisp. use just a little cinnamon and real maple syrup to toss the sliced and peeled pears in. ina garten on the food network has a wonderful topping...i think it is for a pear crisp even! i make a double batch of topping and then freeze it.

[Tanya]

I made caramel spice pear butter last year and it was wonderful. Great on bagels or over ice cream!!

[Crystal DuBois]

I love to bake pears with pork. There is a good freezer recipe on dreamdinners.com that uses pears.

[Heidi @ GGIP]

Baked pears stuffed with nuts are delicious. Think baked apples.