Baked pear with stilton, ginger and walnut filling recipe

A delightfully fruity and flavour-filled starter that’s sophisticated and easy to make.

If you’re bored of serving a classic prawn cocktail or smoked salmon combination as your Christmas starter, say hello to our baked pear with stilton, ginger and walnut filling. Soft pear with salty blue cheese, fiery ginger and toasted walnuts is an undeniably tasty combination.

This starter looks very elegant and is easy to make, taking all the stress out of entertaining. Ginger and walnuts are a lovely festive flavour combination. If you’d like some pudding inspiration too, take a look at our pear, ginger and walnut steamed Christmas pudding. It’s a delicious alternative to classic Christmas pudding and looks spectacular too.

Ingredients

• 4 conference pears, halved
• 50g soft brown sugar
• 20g butter
• 100g stilton
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
• 2 knobs stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped
• 60g walnuts, finely chopped (reserve a few to serve with)
• rocket or watercress to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C, Gas 6. Slice the pears in half, using a melon baller, scoop out the seeds. Melt the butter and sugar in a pan and place the pears flat side down and leave for a few mins to caramelise.
2. Transfer to a roasting tray and roast for 20mins. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Scoop a large portion of the pear out of the shell – keeping the main intact. Finely chop the filling and mix this with the stilton, nutmeg, stem ginger and chopped walnuts.
3. Fill the pears with the nutty filling and return to the oven to bake for 10mins to melt the cheese slightly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving with rocket or watercress.