Pear & Swede Bake (Paleo, AIP)

When I was shopping at my favourite organic market the other day, I found myself utterly smitten with the pear selection. Thank you, Autumn, for still more delicious bounty: the reassuringly familiar green Bartlett, the resolutely red Anjou, and the endearingly petite Flemish, to name a few.

A good pear is divine, especially when you get that timing for ripeness just right, a moment that reveals itself readily and willingly when those central and lateral incisors break into a delicate skin that gives way to the most titillating and juiciest flesh. (Yipes. It’s getting hot in here!)

This Pear-Swede Bake makes use of the pear’s perfection in a sweet yet slightly savoury side dish. This is a dish that goes well with any type of meat, although it was an especially wonderful side at our recent Thanksgiving dinner.

The swede, also commonly called rutabaga, sometimes gets a bad rap for its strong flavour, but you’ll find that the addition of pear in this dish detracts from that more robust flavour. The baked pear and swede combination creates a texture that is smooth and delicate. I hope all these descriptors have your mouth watering because you really should give this recipe a try.

Let the pear and the swede do their thing in this scrumptious side. Let this dish be the next one to grace your dinner table.

Pear & Swede Bake

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Author: Martine Partridge

Recipe type: Side Dish

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 medium swede, peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp. fat
• 2 tsp arrowroot flour (optional: this doesn't change the taste, but does make the texture slightly creamier)
• 3 medium pears, peeled and sliced
• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup
• sprinkle of cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel and chop the swede. Steam until soft.
3. While the swede is steaming, peel and slice the pears.
4. Heat a skillet with 1 tbsp. of oil over medium heat. Add the pears. Sauté the pears lightly for about five minutes. Drizzle in the maple syrup. Toss to coat.
5. When the swede is done steaming, mash it with the 1 tbsp. of fat (I used duck fat, but you could use bacon fat or coconut oil).
6. If you are adding the arrowroot flour, mix it in with the mashed swede at this point.
7. Spread the mashed swede in a greased casserole dish.
8. Then place the pears over top of the mashed swede.
9. Sprinkle on the cinnamon.
10. Bake in oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

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