Lunch: Roasted Winter Fruit

Recipe by Nina Simonds Nina Simonds stuffs pears with a luscious mix of apricots, port, and ginger. Like all her dishes, this one shows that just a few ingredients can be transporting. Adapted from her cookbook, Spices of Life.

This recipe includes superfoods such as:

Lemon

Health benefits of Roasted Winter Fruit

Lemons can help to prevent oxidative damage to the body, which women with PCOS are often susceptible to. Lemons are also rich in vitamin C, flavonoids, and other antioxidants. They can potentially support the immune system and have other health benefits. Lemons also have a low glycemic index, so they should not cause a rapid rise in blood sugar when consumed in natural form.

Ingredients

1 c. dried apricots
6 slightly underripe Bosc pears
1 lemon
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. candied ginger
1 c. good-quality port wine
2 1/2 tbsp. sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place apricots in a small bowl and pour 1 cup boiling water over them. Peel pears and slice them in half lengthwise; core each with a melon-baller or spoon. Rub pears' surfaces with lemon halves to prevent browning.
Spread butter on the bottom of a 14" x 10" gratin pan or baking dish. Arrange pears, cut side up, in pan. Drain apricots; reserve the soaking liquid. Chop apricots and ginger together coarsely.
Transfer apricot mixture to a bowl; stir in port and sugar and reserved apricot liquid. Fill the hollows of each pear halfway with mixture. Pour any remaining topping all over pears.
Roast pears on the center oven rack, basting occasionally, until tender, 40 to 45 minutes. Arrange pears in a shallow bowl and drizzle with pan juices. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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