Everytime we go away, I make sure there is enough food in the house for the kids to eat. Mostly I cook meals in advance for them to reheat, but I also leave them ingredients to prepare for themselves, should they have the urge. Items like eggs, milk, rice and fruits are staples in our house and generally disappear very quickly.

Such was the case when we came back from our last trip away, apart from some Bosc pears that sat there looking pretty on the kitchen bench. Apparently, I was told, the whole setting looked like a still life and nobody wanted to disturb the scene, in case I planned to take a photograph. Of course, it prompted me to grab the camera and capture the perfectly shaped fruits before deciding to eat them.

I didn’t wanted to have them plain however, so ended up roasting them in honey and saffron and served with autumn spiced yoghurt after coming across a recipe found in a recent issue of Gourmet Traveller magazine. It was originally meant as a simple dessert to be eaten warm, but in our house it was a perfect breakfast served cold. Don’t worry about the amount of honey used in this recipe, any leftover pan juice makes a great syrup to drizzle on pancakes or plain yoghurt ( or both!)

Honey and Saffron roasted pears with spiced yoghurt
Courtesy of Gourmet Traveller

Serves 4 as breakfast or dessert

Ingredients

200g honey
Thinly peeled rind and juice of 1 lemon
3 cinnamon quills
A pinch of saffron threads, soaked in 1 tbsp of warm water
3 beurre Bosc Pears, quartered and cored
Roughly chopped roasted walnuts
300g greek style yoghurt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
A pinch of ground cardamon
A pinch of ground cloves

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220C. In a large bowl, mix the honey, lemon rind and juice, cinnamon quills, and saffron water. Add the pears and toss to coat with the honey mixture. Transfer the lot to a roasting pan large enough to fit the pears. Roast, basting occasionally until the fruits are tender and a golden colour ( approx 20 minutes )
2. In the meantime, make the spiced yoghurt by combining the yoghurt, ground cinnamon, cardamon and cloves in a small bowl.
3. Serve the pears either warm or cold with the spiced yoghurt, sprinkled with walnuts and a drizzle of honey pan juices.