Roasted Pears with Ginger, Buckwheat and Quark

Soft fruit, spicy ginger and crunchy grains

Pears soften and become sweeter in the oven, while the cut sides turn golden. Choose fruit that smells ripe but still feels firm; very soft pears can fall apart as they roast. Conference pears are often easy to find and hold their shape reasonably well, but a firm Doyenné du Comice works too. Pears are widely available in the Netherlands, especially in autumn and winter. Outside the season, you can make this dish with firm pears from the shop; ripeness matters more than the variety.

Fresh ginger adds a warm, bright heat that’s mellowed by the soft fruit and full-fat quark. Finely grate the ginger so it spreads over the wedges, and use a little less if you want a milder breakfast. A little butter helps the edges brown and adds a rounded flavor; you can use a neutral oil instead if you’d rather not use butter. Leave space between the wedges on the baking sheet so they roast rather than steam. There’s no need to preheat the oven with the pears inside: a hot oven helps them brown more quickly.

Buckwheat gives the dish a dry, nutty crunch. Use hulled buckwheat groats, not buckwheat flour or ready-cooked buckwheat. Toast the groats in a dry frying pan and keep an eye on them: once they smell fragrant and start to color lightly, they can darken quickly. Let them cool briefly and they’ll become crunchier. If you don’t have buckwheat, you can use the same method with pumpkin seeds or coarsely chopped hazelnuts; the flavor will change, but the contrast with the soft pear will remain.

Serve the pears warm over a spoonful of cold quark, so you get both warm and cool in every bite. A small amount of honey is enough: the ripe fruit already brings sweetness. For brunch, you can also serve the pears at room temperature and add the buckwheat at the very last moment to keep it crunchy. It’s best to roast the fruit just before eating; cover and refrigerate any leftovers, then reheat them thoroughly before eating. Store the buckwheat separately and sprinkle it over just before serving.