It is easy to make; most of the preparation (and there is not a lot) can be done ahead of time.
It is gorgeous to eat and makes a fabulous lunch or light dinner.
All the ingredients work together beautifully.
The tangy blue cheese custard that surrounds the smoky, crispy bacon and the sweetly piquant pears is their perfect foil.
My favourite accompaniment here is a good bread and a salad.
It is important to use regular blue top milk in the custard. Skim milk will not do.
Blue cheese, pear and bacon bake
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
Oil spray for frypan
200g rindless bacon, chopped into 2cm pieces
1 Tbsp (15g) butter
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
600g ripe but firm pears (approximately 3), peeled, cored and cut into 2cm dice
Cheese custard
4 large eggs, size 7
1 large egg yolk
1 cups standard blue top milk
tsp cayenne pepper
100g blue vein cheese, roughly chopped into several pieces (I use Bouton d'or)
65g self-raising flour
30g parmesan cheese, grated
Method
Lightly oil the base and sides of a shallow, square 21cm x 21 x 5cm casserole dish.
Heat a medium-sized frypan, lightly spray with oil and cook the chopped bacon over medium to low heat until golden and crisp. Remove from the frypan, drain the bacon on paper towels and spread evenly over the base of the casserole dish.
Wipe out the frypan with a paper towel. Add the butter and when it bubbles, add the pears. Increase the heat to medium and saute the pears for about 4 minutes.
Spoon the vinegar over the pears, and over a high heat, saute the pears for a minute or two until all the liquid has evaporated and the pears are golden.
Cool a little then spoon the pears evenly over the bacon pieces. The recipe can be prepared to this stage up to 24 hours ahead of time. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until required.
Bring to room temperature before proceeding. Preheat the oven to 180degC.
The cheese custard is best mixed in a food processor.
Place the eggs, egg yolk, milk, cayenne pepper, blue cheese and flour in a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times until the ingredients are combined a little, then blitz until smooth.
Pour carefully and gently over the pears and bacon in the casserole dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until puffed and golden.
Remove from the oven and stand for about 15 minutes before serving. During this time the flavours meld and develop. I think the flavours are more pronounced when warm rather than hot, straight from the oven.
