I’m sure Nigella would forgive me for changing her recipe. I’m 200% sure that she is a recipe fiddler (and who isn’t really when you’ve run out of ingredients?) and fiddling is good for you unless you are say…. an accountant fiddling with the numbers.

I did three substitutions: 1. I replaced the pears with a Granny Smith apple as there were no Beurre Bosc pears to be had and 2. I substituted the Marsala for Brandy and 3. I substituted the walnuts for pecans as I like pecans better and had run out of walnuts. And let me say that the smell of this cooking is wonderful, truly.

Marsala Honey Pears with Gorgonzola from Nigella Express (or Brandy honey apples with Gorgonzola and pecans)

With all due respect to De Gaulle and his countrymen, I would happily forgo each and every one of France’s 246 cheeses for one wodge of Gorgonzola. For me, it is the king of cheeses, the queen, the grand empress of cheeses. This dish is my way of paying respects to it, although I am perfectly happy to eat it all alone (both me and the cheese). If you want cheese at the end of a dinner party, then this is the way to do it.

And while its not an Italian recipe, it is entirely Italian in inspiration. For me, its Autumn in Milan cast in food.

• 2 x 15ml tablespoons olive oil (not extra virgin)
• 2 pears (approx 500g total weight), unpeeled and uncored
• 3 x 15ml tablespoons Marsala
• 2 x15ml tablespoons honey
• 50g walnut halves
• 500g ripe gorgonzola in perfect condition (it should never have seen the inside of your fridge). OK mine did, shoot me. Sometimes Nigella can be unrealistic

1. Let the oil heat in a large frying pan, while you cut the pears into eighths i.e. quarter them and halve each quarter

2. Fry the pears for 3 minutes on each side, and, while they are frying, whisk the Marsala and honey together in a cup.

3. When the pears have had their time, throw in the Marsala-honey mixture and let it bubble up vociferously around the pears, them transfer them, all bronzed and syrupy, to a plate.

4. Add the walnut halves to the dark juices left in the pan and story fry them for about a minutes until they are themselves darkened in part and sticky all over.
Remove them to the plate with the pears and add Ingredient X, your Gorgonzola

Recipe by Nigella Lawson from Nigella Express

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