Pear-Onion Brie Bruschetta

Happy New Year!

With the start of 2012, I’m sure everyone’s thinking about resolutions. Most people’s are probably to exercise more or travel somewhere exotic. For me, it’s to cook more savory dishes. So I’m starting 2012 with a bang! (I actually made these on January 1st!)

Ok I’ll be honest. This is only sort of savory, but it’s also a little sweet. Caramelized onions and pears. Naturally sweet, but perfectly balanced with salty brie.

Baby steps.

I’ll get to fully savory soon enough. After all, I have all year.

Pear-Onion Brie Bruschetta

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 large onion, diced
2-3 pears, diced
2-3 tsp fresh thyme
1 baguette
few ounces of Brie

Heat oil and butter together on medium. Once oil and butter is hot, add onions and pears. Cook until caramelized (about 30-40 minutes). Basically you can put it in there, stir it around, leave it alone for 10 minutes, stir it, leave alone for 10 minutes, stir again, etc.

Once it’s a nice caramel color, stir in the thyme, cook for another minute and turn off the heat. At this point you can either serve it or put it in a container to transport. That’s really the beauty of this appetizer/snack. You can take it anywhere. It can be eaten hot or cold and it’s easy to assemble.

So for the assembly, cut a baguette into thin slices (about 1-2 centimeters thick? I’m bad with measurements, use your best judgement), spoon some of the onions and pears onto the bread, and top with a small slice of brie.

Serve and enjoy! Just to note, I tried putting the brie under the pear-onion mixture but I found that it slides off more for some reason. But if you want to put the brie under the pears and onions, go for it.

Like I said, this is perfect for any occasion. I took it for a picnic.