Miso caramel pear porridge makes one of my favourite desert flavours into a breakfast worthy indulgence. Tender caramelised pear, a quick honey-miso-butter sauce and toasted seeds for crunch. Jump to Recipe
I used to hate porridge with a passion. Growing up, I did a lot of tramping (trekking? hiking? we call it tramping in NZ), and porridge was the staple breakfast of choice for most people – quickly made in a pot with milk powder and brown sugar. Not me. I’m not sure I actually ever tried it – I operated on the assumption that I hated milk and so would therefore hate porridge, that lumpy, gruel-like, gluey, usually burnt substance scarfed down outside a tent. Being probably more than a little precocious, I baked carrot & coconut muffins, brought along a stash of kiwifruit and survived on cabin bread and jam. Ugh. I feel like going back and shaking some sense into my 14 year old self. I sorely underestimated the humble bowl of oats.
I eventually transitioned from my high school breakfasts of sugary bowls of cereal piled with berry yogurt. Baby steps – first to a slightly less-sugary bran based cereal with yogurt, which led to the discovery of bircher muesli, and then finally to a tentative attempt at porridge on a particularly cold morning. It’s now my staple, and my only annoyance is that it took me so long.
It’s simple, comforting and cosy. It’s hearty and healthy – full of fibre and complex carbohydrates, protein and minerals. It keeps me full all morning. And my favourite part? It’s the perfect vehicle for flavour and texture – it doesn’t have to be a boring oats + milk + brown sugar affair. I fully admit to being a bit of a porridge snob (and a coffee snob – let’s get it all out there now!). I regularly change up my grains, milks and toppings – something fruity, something nutty, something with crunch and always finished with dollop of greek yogurt. Twice while in London I sought out porridge at 26 Grains – probably the best I’ve ever had, and the first time I’d ever experienced butter on porridge, coupled with hazelnuts, grated apple and cinnamon sugar. A lesson on simplicity, and the importance of texture.
This miso caramel pear porridge is makes one of my favourite desert flavours – miso caramel – into a breakfast worthy indulgence. Tender caramelised pear, a quick honey-miso-butter sauce and toasted seeds for crunch. It’s worth waking up twenty minutes early for, I promise.
A few other favourites if you’re also a fancy porridge person:
- Carrot cake: grated carrot cooked in with the oats, a few sultanas, cinnamon, mixed spice, a wee bit of fresh grated ginger, sauteed pear chunks
- Rhubarb & strawberry compote, vanilla, pumpkin seeds, greek yogurt
- Coconut milk porridge with blueberry compote, mango and macadamias
Anyway. That’s enough of an ode to porridge for one day. At the moment (when I’m not at the hospital on placement) I’m tied to my desk and computer screen, attempting to revise (cough..relearn) the whole past four years of medical school – just as fun as it sounds. There have been some higher points: visiting the House of Dior exhibition, creating a chocolate-walnut-tahini-torched meringue cake for a birthday (want the recipe??), a couple of hours of straight laughter at the Pop Up Globe’s Much Ado About Nothing, and countless extra-hot flat whites from my local. The countdown in on – four weeks until exams!!!!
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons chia seeds (optional)
- 1 3/4 cup almond milk (or other milk, I often use a mix of almond & coconut milk)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- pinch of salt
- toasted pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds to serve
- greek yogurt to serve
- 2 ripe pears, halved and cored (I use beurre bosc)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon white miso paste (adjust to taste)
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Soak the oats the night before - combine the oats, chia seeds, milk, vanilla and salt in a bowl and refrigerate overnight. If you forget this step, even 30 minutes of soaking is worthwhile.
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Half and core the pears. Heat up a fry pan big enough to fit all the pears, cut side down.
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Melt the butter, honey and miso in the frypan and add the pears. On a low-medium heat, cook for about 10 minutes (depends on pear ripeness) until almost tender. Be careful not to burn the pears - low slow heat is good. I find putting a lid on the pan speeds this step up. When the pears are fork tender, if they are not caramelised underneath enough turn the heat up a bit for a few minutes.
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To cook the porridge, transfer the soaked oats and milk to a saucepan. Cook on a medium heat for 5 or so minutes until desired thickness reached. If it gets too dry for you, add a bit of water or more milk.
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Meanwhile, toast the seeds in a dry pan.
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Serve the porridge in bowls topped with caramelised pear, toasted seeds and greek yogurt.
yeah i had a hard time getting over the texture when i first tried it, and finding steel cut oats was the key for me! i’m a cinnamon and raisin oatmeal kind of person, but that gets boring real quick, so all these ideas sound awesome and like a good motivator to get me out of bed (;
Cinnamon raisin everyyyything (mainly bagels, tbh). I must admit I really only break out the fancy porridge on the weekend when it’s not such a rush haha!
oooh. i still haven’t converted to the church of porridge (there’s something about the texture for me), but these flavors might convince me otherwise. xo
Omg these miso caramel pears are calling my name!! I love porridge and this one is definitely a must-try. Beautiful, Claudia. <3
This looks amazing! Yum
This is a fun way to mix up your breakfast routine and dying to see how the honey miso butter sauce is on the pears. Yum!
I haven’t been able to get on the porridge train yet. I do give it regular ‘trys’.. maybe for my next try i should give these delicious flavors a shot. Hey, if i still don’t like the porridge atleast there is that yummm miso honey pear!
Hy Claudia, it looks delicious. can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂 Have a nice weekend
I am JUST NOW getting into “porridge.” I’ve never been a fan of the texture but last winter I started to enjoy making oatmeal, and then our recent trip to Europe kind of sealed the deal for me when I had the best porridge EVER at a cafe in Wales. Now I need to perfect my homemade version. This one with the pears looks absolutely divine.
I’m in love. Sweet and savory flavors in oatmeal are my fave. I like the sound of tramping better than plain old hiking.
Wow, this looks just amazing!!! I’m totally craving pears now, beautiful. -CK
Love that you added miso to this sweet dish!
I LOVE grains for breakfast…the caramelized pears look amazing. I’m even happy just stirring in a spoonful of homemade apricot jam. I don’t even mind the stare I get from my husband when we go to Fox & Goose… they have the most delicious breakfast grain bowl with wild rice…It’s impossible for me to not order it.
I am like you it has taken me years to get on the porridge bandwagon – i fell in love with it in Scotland when you needed something to stick to your ribs on a tramp! and now I am here I am kicking myself for not getting there sooner. You are so right about the lavours and textures though. I will have to try out 26 Grains but I doubt they have anything as delightful as this!
This recipe has the potential of becoming my new favorite breakfast dish! I love the combination of the healthy ingredients, Claudia! Can I use maple syrup instead of honey for the pears?
Oh wow, this is just gorgeous, Claudia! I LOVE everything here: the stickily, shiny, caramelised pears (I can almost smell them!), the thick, creamy porridge, the crunchy seeds. And don’t even get me started on those photos and styling. I love it! Thanks for the inspiration, my dear!
This sounds delicious! I’ll be trying out some of the variations, too – i’ve made carrot cake overnight oats before but have never thought to try them hot. Thank goodness the weather is turning colder here in the UK so that I can have oats every morning!
You make porridge look AMAZING (I always see it on your Instastories too!). I used to hate porridge too, when I was a lot younger because I thought it was gross and lumpy haha. But I love it so much, so comforting for a cold Melbourne morning – I like to cook some apples with cinnamon, lemon and maple syrup so it’s like apple pie. I’m bookmarking this recipe because miso caramel pear sounds awesome!
This porridge looks so amazing and comforting, perfect for these colder Autumn days! I will be definitely making it soon! Oh and those pears!!!! <3
This sounds like the coziest meal ever. Love love love pears in anything, especially during this time of year. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, honey-miso-butter sauce sounds so amazing, would be a perfect combo with the porridge!
Just made it, it’s STELLAR! Thanks Claudia!
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know!!
Does cooking the miso kill the probiotics?