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A pear, fig and blue cheese appetizer on a plate with crackers.
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Grilled Pear Appetizer with Blue Cheese, Walnut & Fig Recipe

Salty, sweet, and crunchy, this delightful grilled pear and blue cheese appetizer is so easy to make and looks gorgeous as a picnic starter or even as a centrepiece to a wine and cheese picnic. Perfect when you want easy picnic finger food with a touch of elegance.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Picnic Food
Cuisine: Appetizer
Servings: 6 pieces
Calories: 71kcal
Author: Kate O'Malley

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 large crisp pear Concorde or Farelle are good varieties sliced on the round and lightly grilled.
  • 50 gm quality blue cheese such as Roquefort Stilton or Gorgonzola.
  • 1 large or 2 small fresh figs cut in thin wedges approx 2 slices per pear piece
  • 8-10 whole large walnuts.
  • Sage or thyme garnish optional.

Instructions

  • Slice pears evenly on the round around .05cm thick (I don't think wedges work as well). Make sure they are thick enough to hold their form when picked up. You can use a knife to slice, but I find a mandolin does a much better job. Each pear will give you roughly 6 slices of varying sizes. 
  • Place the pear slices on a griddle pan on med-high heat and brush both sides lightly with olive oil.
  • Grill just long enough for the nice caramelised lines from the griddle to form. The pear will have softened but won't be soft. (I like to cook a few pear wedges at the same time for a pear salad).
  • Place your grilled pear slices in a container to take to the picnic.
  • Pack enough figs (pre-cut if you like, or not) to top each pear piece with two fig wedge slices. A packet of blue cheese and walnuts. 
  • At the picnic, plate your pear slices. Top each piece with a good chunk of blue cheese, pressing it into the pear slightly to makes sure it sticks. 
  • Top the blue cheese with small wedges of fresh fig and press two walnut halves into the cheese. 
    Grilled pear appetiser with figs and blue cheese.
  • While this dish doesn't need a garnish, I like to garnish with small sage leaves, but sprigs of thyme are also lovely. 

Notes

Recipe Variations

  • You don't have to grill the pear but cut the slices as close to serving as possible to avoid them going brown.
  • Use dry figs over fresh or substitute with slices of dates.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 71kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 151mg | Potassium: 73mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 107IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 0.2mg