La petite entrée à la mode – Crumble de poires, roquefort et noisettes

pearcrumble3web

pearcrumbleweb

Crumbles are quite trendy in France right now, I think anything with an anglo-saxon name is… Last time I was there, I noticed a few American items such as muffins, crumbles, brownies, cookies, (not to mention hamburgers au MacDo, that’s the way the French call McDonalds), but let’s just forget about McDo for now. Funny how McDonlads are all over France but never really made it to Italy that much and I’m really glad about that.

I was reading an article on Le Monde the other day and it seems like there is a new trend in France and real need for gourmet and organic fast food items that are going to compete with McDonalds and I am so glad that they want to change the traditional fast food concept into a better and more nutritious way of eating. Hopefully soon, you could eat sur le pouce (on the thumb) when you don’t have time to eat and still enjoy healthy and tasty food. Many chains are opening with famous chefs being involved in the food preparation. Let’s see what happens on that end…

We have seen the combination of pear and blue cheese before in many recipes….but I really like it and it’s been very popular anytime I served it, so even if this combo is not a top creation, it’s quick and delicious. I used to make tarts with gorgonzola and pear, salads, etc…so why not a crumble? If you don’t like the sweet twist of the pear, you can use spinach, greens, potatoes, etc… It’s a perfect little appetizer, that goes wonderfully with a simple frisée salad on the side.

I used individual ramequins, you can use a larger dish, individual ramequins make a nicer presentation but it’s not necessary. If you are using an indivdual ramequin, half pear would be enough, if not count one pear per person.

This is very easy but more so quick to prepare, so if you have unexpected guests, it would be perfect, you can put it together in less than 10 minutes and enjoy your evening. Now you might not have roquefort cheese waiting for you in the fridge, but any blue cheese would work. I used the British stilton before and it worked fine.

Ingredients for 4

  • 4 pears, peeled and sliced
  • 4.2 oz (or 120 g) roquefort cheese, cubed
  • black pepper

For the crumble topping

  • 4 tbs wholewheat flour
  • 5 tbs plain bread crumbs
  • 1 1/2 tbs hazelnuts, chopped (or pistachios)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 oz (or 50 g) butter
  • a little salt and pepper

Preparation

Place pear slices in a deep dish or ramequins. Add roquefort on top and add pepper.

For the crumble topping, beat egg. In a mixing bowl, add flour, bread crumbs, hazelnuts, egg, soft butter. Mix well.

Place crumble topping on the roquefort and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with additional chopped hazelnuts. Serve hot.