Pear, Walnut and Gorgonzola BruschettaHome >> Recipes
When you are invited to an Italian family, you often get served a bruschetta [broosKAYtah, plural broosKAYtay] garnished with whatever nice ingredient they have around that day. It takes a restaurateur with great confidence to serve this in a restaurant, as in essence, a bruschetta is nothing more than grilled stale bread with a little garnish. It is also one of the easiest and most enjoyable starter you can make for an Italian meal. Today I'll show you a seasonal autumn bruschetta your guests will never tire of. Bruschetta with Gorgonzola, Walnuts and Pears
If using whole nuts, begin by cracking them as this can take some time and the rest cannot wait. Call me fancy but I love cracking whole walnuts using my latest nutcracker. Today, a German contraption where you place a walnut vertically... ... then drop a steel ball to break it. Certainly not very efficient, but I have yet to see a guest who doesn't like to play with it for half an hour. Ideal to have your guests wait while the food is cooking - and they even get to eat the fruit of their work as crushed walnuts accumulate on the dinner table. Slice the bread thinly with a serrated blade and swift back-to-front movements. I like to brush the bread with a little olive oil before roasting it. Place the bread on a grate in a hot oven... ... and toast until brown and crispy all over. Don't go for moist but for crispy. Your bread should end up as dessicated and crunchy as a fossil. Remove the rind from the cheese while you praise penicillium roquefortii for its mercies. Lay the toasted bread in an ovenproof dish for its last voyage, and cover with the thinly sliced cheese. Garnish with the walnuts... ... and put back in a medium hot oven until the cheese melt. Don't use a powerful grill or you'll burn your walnuts before the cheese is melted. You can definitely prepare everything a couple hours before and do this last step only when the guests arrive. Meanwhile, peel the pears ... ... core and cut them into cubes as thick as your middle finger. If you need to prepare this a few hours before, just place the cubed pears in a bowl of water with a drop of lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Garnish the bruschette with the pear cubes as soon as the cheese is melted... ... and serve. This is Italian cuisine at its best. Utter simplicity based on excellent ingredients, around a time tested formula. Food for the gods. Serve this with a sweet white wine and go you'll be in heaven before the meal is over. 288259 views Did you like this article? Leave me a comment or see my most popular articles. Related Articles The Battle of the Knoedel *** Sainte-Maure Goat Cheese Feuilleté ** Creamy Agliata Verde ** Decadent Baked Vacherin Cheese ** Copyright FXcuisine 2024 - all rights reserved. |
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63 Comments
- #1
- Comment by Rosa
They look really good! A delightful combo!I really like your nutcracker!
Cheers,
Rosa
- #3
- Comment by Xavier
Hmmmm, Gorgeous ! Pear (or apple too) and melted cheese are definitely a combination that rocks. If you like it but want to do a dinner of it, the pear and cheese pie is a must. I already tried it with Munster, Camembert, Gorgonzola and Brie. Each one its own personality.If it's too strong for you a nice chicory salad with apples, walnuts and dices of beaufort can introduce you to this alliance with subtlety.
- #5
- Comment by Stephan Eisen
Hi,it seems a tasty food, easy to prepare.
The problem is it seems in Germany it gets harder and harder to find some good bread.
Bread mostly is some convenience product by now, I think.
What are your experiences in other countries.
I mean it was not like that 15 years ago.
Cheers,
Stephan
- #7
- Comment by Cris
This is a wonderfull, so easy and so delicious. I love gorgonzola with pears or figs but perhaps the same bruschetta with stilton with some Port it could be a good idea too.By the way,I like your nutscracker, It's so design!.- #9
- Comment by aidee
Yum!Reminds me of a basic italian pizza permutation which no doubt is an extension of your documented classic: gorgonzola, thin pear slices, rocket and walnut meal.
Perfect for summer in Australia!
- #11
- Comment by James Wang
Very elegant bruschetta!A favourite ristorante of mine served a similar bruschetta, with cambozola, black olives, and a touch of balsamic reduction. Sublime.
- #13
- Comment by Johnny Goodyear
I like the idea of getting guests to participate in their own manipulation via the walnut cracking...the blue might be a tough too strong for me, but perhaps some creamy camberzola would do the trick....JG
- #15
- Comment by Angela
Oh this is so perfect for the season and what great flavor pairings. I love your still life shots of the pear and walnuts! I just borrowed a bunch of off-camera lighting and equipment and have been playing around it. I will never go back!- #17
- Comment by Cynthia
This combo is always a winner.- #19
- Comment by Helena
Mmm ... yum. I've had a cheese pear walnut without the bread, and the bruschetta I've had (Italian versions I've tried anyway) always featured tomatoes.Great to know cheese pear walnut go well together with bread. I never thought of that. I guess sometimes, I don't dissect or think about the base ingredients behind what I'm served when I eat out.
- #21
- Comment by WanderingTaoist
Great combination. I love it with honey on top, the only small problem is that the honey usually drips off the bruschetta. Any solutions to this, anyone? Thanks for the yummy photos, FX.- #23
- Comment by Jutta
What gorgeous pictures! Definitely will try this yummy combination. Please tell me where I can get that nutcracker.- #25
- Comment by Traci
So, Francois, how many takes did you do before you got that PERFECT shot of the nutcracker ball hitting the walnut? :)- #27
- Comment by maria
I love your website, recipes, experiences, etc. Your photography is great as well, but there are times when your shots are repetitive and superfluous. For example: one photo of a walnut being cracked would be enough.- #29
- Comment by Jason Sandeman
I love the pictures that you have for your site, and you just can never have too many pictures of a cool nutcracker. I love that you captured the essence of the bruscetta as well, while you were photographing it after you had cut it. You had crumbs all over the table, which makes me feel as if it were an authentic Italian preparation. Indeed, something is wrong with your fare if there are not a thousand small little breadcrumbs all over after you have started your first round in antipasti. That is what Nona said so, at least.- #31
- Comment by Laura D.
I like ALL your photos, FX. And I like that word, "pleonastic." I'm a proofreader, but I had to get my dictionary out for that one!- #33
- Comment by Charlie
Hey! You do fantastic work with this website, so don't let silly comments get you down. Thank you for all your efforts.- #35
- Comment by Kimberly in Medford, NJ
Wow! This was outstanding. I used Stilton and we drank a bottle of Eroica 2006 Riesling Columbia Valley Washington State. My palate sure appreciates your genius.- #37
- Comment by Meramarina
Well, FX, I enjoyed your smashing photos, and personally, I'd love to play with such a device. It seems to be a little bit like having your own personal, low-tech particle collider, to be used in the creation of new, fresh and delicious states of matter! Of course, one inconvenience might be cleaning up all those fundamental but not-so-fun nutshell particles. I hope your guests help!,
As for the recipe, my impressions were: "Huh?" then "Hmmm . . . " and then "Mmmmm!!!" Somehow, the pear slices on top make the flavor combination very interesting; the result must be sweet, tart and crunchy all at once, nutty and nice.
MORE photos, please! Even office equipment loves them. I forgot to switch to text-only for printing, and the printer ate the paper. It had good taste, at least!
Best regards from New Jersey, USA
- #39
- Comment by peteformation
Love the nut cracking device!- #41
- Comment by Judy
Great article; I can hardly wait for the article about nutcrackers. Did you imply that this beautiful device is, perhaps, not terribly efficient? If it is efficient and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, I would love to get one. I have friends in Germany. . .Thanks for your entertaining and inspiring recipes.
- #43
- Comment by don siranni
Fx,the way real nutcrackers do it:an egg-crate style conveyor belt moves under a fine saw that slices a small hole in the top of the nut.Then a synctonized nozzle injects propane into the hole.The belt then drops the nuts down thru on open flame,whereupon they explode and the results fall into a water pool,which flows over a weir.The shells sink and the very perfect halves float over the weir into a dryer.Sorry about this windy email-just couldn't resist having some fun with you,and your entertaining cracker-but mines' even more fun!
- #45
- Comment by Lynn
Hi FX,This recipe is sure to be on my menu this weekend. We're lucky to have good bread in Berkeley, as well as good pears. I envy your nutcracker collection, although I'm much to cheap to buy one so beautiful if it doesn't work so well. I guess that one's more like an entertainment than a really cooking tool. Looking forward to seeing your other nutcrackers.
- #47
- Comment by ET
I could never appreciate blue cheeses! Always found it disgusting to have mold on your cheese. But then I'm Asian, so well. Not used to it I guess.By the way, thanks fx for always tagging vegetarian food! Vegetarian me appreciates it :)
- #49
- Comment by Richard Hughes, M.D.
I enjoyed the pear, gorgonzola bruchetta. It could be a European dessert, with some cream sherry! Thanks, Richard.- #51
- Answered by fx
Guys, the nutcracker in the pictures is made by http://www.take2-design.de/ and apparently they have models with a stone ball too. You can buy them off Ebay.de- #52
- Comment by jen
I am wondering if there is a substitute for the bleu cheese that will be edible for pregnant women. I am wanting to serve this, but know that it may be dangerous for pregnant women to eat any type of soft, unpasteurized cheeses. Thanks for any help you may offer.- #54
- Comment by NN
Good day, meneer. No doubt, the lady behind that nasty comment is stuck on a dial-up connection—which explains her aversion to repetitive photos (and is also in itself a sufficiently severe punishment for her sins). NOW, it's Tuesday afternoon, no new posts, and I'm going into FX withdrawal…- #56
- Comment by Angelo
Francois,You are truly a man after my own heart.
I made a "variation" of your recipe a few months back. I had some really firm pears and a small bottle of port I had received a few Christmasses ago. I poached the pears in the port until tender (the way they do it in Portugal, except they serve the poached pears with a sabayon)and had it with some blue cheese (Roquefort) and walnuts. I am lactose intolerant (as most asians are) but this combination was soooooo good that it was truly worth the pain and discomfort.
Cheers!
PS. pay no heed to the nitpicky woman Maria. I like the extra shots you put in.
- #58
- Comment by parshu.narayanan
Hi Fx, it seems delicious, and i want to get as close to the appetizer as I can - I can get all the ingredients except Gorgonzola in Haryana, India where I live, could you suggest a packaged "supermarket" alternative pl. btw Angelo's desription of asians as lactose-intolerant is mystifying to me as an Indian, perhaps he meant only East Asians (China-Japan) and not South asians (Indian subcontinent) because as we say in my part of the world, the only culture we have in (the very rustic & pastoral State of)Haryana is yoghurt:-).- #60
- Comment by Lucia
Ayer por la noche sorprendi a un grupo de personas con esta sencilla receta, la presentacion es un lujo y el sabor es estupendo, gracias y sigue compartiendo tus ideas.- #61
- Comment by Noam
so simple, so delicious! really excellent blue cheese, walnuts, pear - heaven!- #63
- Comment by Stephanie
I had something similar to this at a house party not too long ago. Except we also added some very good honey on top of the cheese and nuts and it was so delicious!Tell me what you think!
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