Caramelised pears with yoghurt.

Yoghurt is one of those things which I am never without.  I make it fresh every few days and eat it on top of my porridge every morning with a generous helping of berries.  It also goes into curries to for creaminess, is added to tarts in the place of cream, is made into dressings and baked into cakes.

This is one of those quick, easy and adaptable recipes which uses yoghurt as its base.  I caramelised pears in this version but you could just as easily use apple, pineapple or stone fruit when in season.  I reserved a few slices of uncooked pear for garnish which makes for an impressive, if not slightly 90’s looking dessert!  Have fun and experiment, the possibilities are endless.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• --
• 2 pears
• 2tbsp butter
• 2tbsp brown sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cinnamon stick
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups yoghurt (I used unsweetened Greek)
• 4 tbsp slivered almonds

Method

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• 1. Wash and core the pears and cut them up into bite sized pieces.
• 2. Melt together the butter, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon stick in a frying pan over medium heat until fragrant. Add the chopped pears and fry for 5 minutes or until they begin to colour. Add the water and continue to cook until the butter/sugar/water mixture reduces to a syrup and the pears soften. Leave to cool.
• 3. Spoon half a cup of yoghurt into dessert bowls or glasses. Remove the cinnamon stick and divide the pear mixture between the dessert bowls or glasses, reserving the syrup to pour over the top of each.
• 4. Finally garnish each dessert with a tablespoon of slivered almonds.