Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Roasted Pears with Coconut Butterscotch Sauce and Toasted Coconut

I had some friends over for homemade pizza on Sunday night.  I wanted to serve a dessert that wasn't too rich and filling.  

Going through my recipe box, I found this idea for roasted pears.  I love coconut and butterscotch, and the idea of coconut milk in the sauce was a novel idea.  

Roasted peeled, and quartered pears, coated in brown sugar and butter at 500 degrees for 20 minutes.

The sauce was easy to make as well.  Just melted brown sugar with water, coconut milk and a pinch of salt and then cooked on medium-high until thickened to sauce consistency.

photo

This warm, cozy dessert was delicious.  Buttery, warm, sweet pears, topped with a slightly coconut flavored butterscotch sauce and a little crunch from toasted coconut.  Fruity and satisfying but not overly rich or heavy.  Give it a try.

from the NY Times
Roasted Pears with Coconut Butterscotch Sauce and Toasted Coconut

4 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and quartered lengthwise
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar, divided
fine sea salt
black pepper
1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
2 cups coconut milk (I used just 1 can, 13.5 oz of lite coconut milk, lots fewer calories)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. In a bowl, toss together the pears, 1/4 cup brown sugar, pinch of salt and pepper.  Roast on a baking sheet, tossing occasionally, until pears are tender and golden, 15 - 20 minutes.

In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the coconut until golden.

In a separate skillet, combine 1 cup brown sugar, and 6 tablespoons water.   Cook over medium heat until sugar melts and loses its sandlike consistency.  Whisk in the coconut milk and a pinch of salt.  Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer until sauce reaches a consistency between that of heavy cream and butterscotch sauce; this could take 10 minutes or longer.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and lemon zest.  Spoon sauce over pears and garnish with toasted coconut.  
Yield 4-6 servings




1 comment:

Thanks for your comments. I love to hear from readers of Spiral Style