Pear-Red Currant Crisp

I guess you could say the weekend wasn't quite the storm I was expecting. In all honesty, I guess a weekend for three isn't really that intimidating. When I asked my mother what was the highlight of Christmas this year she responded, as if on cue, "the Christmas meal" and I couldn't agree more.

I tried quite a few new dishes this Christmas; surprisingly they all received rave reviews. I'm not going to post all the recipes but here's what we enjoyed:

Mushroom and Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts with White Wine Gravy
Winter Vegetable Ciabatta Stuffing
Oven Roasted Rosemary Carrots and Parsnips
Brussels Sprouts
Green Beans
Oven Roasted Potatoes

In fact, the meal was so satisfying we were forced to save our dessert, pear-red currant crisp, for the following day. Lucky for you that means I could spend time taking pictures of it to accompany the recipe.


This recipe is modified from a recipe for Pear-Cranberry Crisp found in an old Cooking Light. Since the supermarket was out of cranberries I substituted Red Currants and eliminated the maple syrup and some of the salt in the recipe.

Filling

• 6 cups sliced peeled pear (about 8 small d'Anjou pears)


• 1 teaspoon cornstarch


• 1/2 cup fresh red currants


• 1/2 cup apple juice


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger


• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Topping

• 3/4 cup regular oats


• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 1/4 cup butter, melted


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F

To prepare filling: place pears in a large bowl, sprinkle with cornstarch and toss well to coat. Stir in red currants, apple juice, vanilla extract, ginger, and salt. Spoon pear mixture into an 8x8 glass dish.

To prepare topping: in a medium bowl combine oats, flour, sugar, butter, and vanilla tossing until moist.

Sprinkle topping over pear mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes or until topping is golden and fruit is bubbling. You may need to increase the heat to 400F to brown the topping.