Focaccia with Blue Cheese, Pears and Walnuts

It is some time ago now, that I had a focaccia in a pizzeria in a small village between Locarno in Switzerland and Domodossola in Northern Italy. What was striking about it was the ideal combination of flavours and textures, blue cheese and pears, with the walnuts adding a crunch to the whole thing. Walnuts and pears are of course available in abundance in autumn, which makes this a tasty dinner when the days are gloriously colourful but are getting shorter. I tried to redo it from memory and it turned out to be pretty much how I remembered it. 

 

What you need

(the following amounts would be for two people)

• 500 gr Pizza dough (I was lazy and bought it ready made) rolled out in two 24-cm rounds
• 200 gr Gorgonzola, possibly with some Mascarpone or Crème Fraîche (not pictured) to make it more spreadable
• 1 onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 pears (conference are good), sliced
• 100 gr walnuts, chopped
• optional, pepper or a raclette spice mix (pepper, nutmeg, paprika)

What you do

1. Preheat the oven to a pizza setting (ventilation and grill, 280°).
2. Distribute garlic and onions, both very thinly sliced on the dough.
3. Sprinkle with (not too finely) chopped walnuts.
4. At this point you may want to prebake this for about 3-4 minutes.
   
5. Add the sliced pears in a circle.
6. Cover with the Gorgonzola (and mascarpone/crème fraiche if using).
7. Bake for a total of about 10 minutes; the cheese topping should have started browning. 
8. Season with pepper or the raclette spice mix.

 

Leek, Pear and Blue Cheese Pasties

At the moment we reap the benefits of Caroline’s careful cultivation of our leek bed. As happens so often with such a vegetable bed, you end up with a glut. This dish was one way of dealing with this. The pears, which don’t appear in the “What you need” photo, were Caroline’s afterthought to use up slightly overripe fruit, and an inspired one as it turned out.

 

 

 

What you need

• 2 leeks sliced, including the green bits
• 1 onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, pressed (optional)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp mixed spices (e.g. black pepper, cayenne pepper, hot paprika, ground coriander)
• 1 tbsp instant vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp dried herbs (e.g. Greek oregano)
• 100 ml dry sherry
• 250 g mild blue cheese, Gorgonzola, bleu-de-Bresse or our very own Blaues Wunder
• 2 sheets of puff pastry about 300g each
• 1 or 2 pears, peeled and sliced (not pictured)
• 1 egg, beaten

What you do

1. Sauté the onions and the garlic, if using, with the mixed spices until the spices are a bit darkened.
2. Add the leek and stir-fry until the leeks are wilted.
3. Sprinkle with vegetable broth and dried herbs.
4. Pour in the sherry and the blue cheese in small cubes. Stir until the cheese is melted.
5. Finally, add the pieces of pear.
6. Lay out one sheet of puff pastry, distribute the vegetable and cheese mix for the pasties. Brush the area where the pastry sheets are meant to stick together with part of the beaten egg.
7. Cover with the second sheet of puff pastry and press together with a fork. Brush with the rest of the egg for a glazed finish.
8. Bake in a hot oven (200°) for about 20 minutes – until the pasties are golden brown.

Served with a mixed salad this is a lightish meal.