4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
5 ripe pears (d’Anjou or Comice)–peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch pieces*
¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1 cup dry Champagne or sparkling wine
Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
Juice of 2 lemons (about ¼ cup)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled and at room temperature
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1. In a medium saucepan, bring the stock and pears to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook until the pears are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the red-pepper flakes and remove the saucepan from the heat.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, blend the pears and stock until smooth. Pass the soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Stir in the Champagne, lemon zest and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Divide the soup among 4 shallow bowls and garnish with the blue cheese. Serve immediately. (The original recipe also calls for garnishing with celery leaves, but we didn’t use those when we made it).
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*We used pears from the pear tree at Sweet Springs, and we have no idea what kind of pears they were, but we just know they were delicious.
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This recipe is from a Tasting Table email (which, by the way, you should sign up for). They say the recipe is adapted from Dirk Flanigan, Henri, Chicago.
This goes on my top 5 list of most unique recipes I’ve ever seen! Good for you to try it!!