When you have a large crop of pears from your orchard or farmstand, you don't have time to casually include them in complicated recipes or to frantically figure out how to use them up before they go bad without getting sick of them. You want to make the most of your harvest and to actually enjoy it.
Here at Plant to Plate, we like to keep things simple! Here are some of my favorite ways to use or preserve pears:
- Top a flatbread with pears, gorgonzola, and roasted beets.
- Top toast, crackers, or bagels with pears and ricotta or cottage cheese.
- Add them to quickbreads, scones, and other baked goods.
- Add them to grilled cheese and paninis.
- Add them to sandwiches.
- Use them as Walls in an Interesting Salad. (Wondering why I capitalized those letters? Read more about Interesting Salads here!)
- Make a Simple Salad. A few ideas for Simple Salad combinations with pears are as follows:
- Add them to smoothies.
- Add them to tea blends. Adding pears to an infusion can give it a sweet yet tangy boost and add some nervine, astringent, and other herbal properties.
- Make jam or jelly.
- Dice and freeze them to save them for later.
- Dehydrate them as another preservation technique. Learn about drying and dehydrating in this article.
Further Reading
Growing pears? Check out these quick facts like their best growing conditions, companion plants, and expected yields.
Pears are also featured in these articles: