Pancetta Cups with Goat Cheese and Pear

I’ll have one more “Best Of 2011″ post for you tomorrow, but these little morsels of deliciousness were too amazing not to share today.  If you’re still trying to figure out a an easy, fun appetizer to serve for New Year’s Eve, here you go!  The Picky Apple doesn’t care for goat cheese, so I got the whole batch of these to myself.  And yes, I did eat them all.  Pretty much in one sitting.  I called it…”lunch.”  If I had more ingredients on hand, I would absolutely make these again for New Year’s Eve (or any other excuse to eat them again.)!

Pancetta Cups with Goat Cheese and Pear

recipe from The Galley Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 16 thin slices (about 1/2 pound) of pancetta (not paper thin)
• 1 large or 2 small pears, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 ounces mild goat cheese
• 1 Tablespoon half-and-half
• 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• Honey to drizzle

Snuggly fit the slices of pancetta into the wells of a mini-muffin pan.  To help keep their shape while baking, ball up a small piece of aluminum foil and place into a pancetta cup.  Repeat with the remaining cups.  Place the pan into a cold oven and close the door.  Turn the oven to 400º F and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pancetta is browned and crisp.  Carefully remove the cups, discarding the foil ball, and place them on a paper towel-lined rack to cool.  The cups will continue to crisp as they cool.

Meanwhile, toss the pears with the lemon juice in a medium bowl; set aside.  In a separate bowl, stir together the goat cheese and half-and-half.

Transfer the pancetta cups to a serving plate.  FIll each cup with a spoonful of pears.  Pipe using a piping bag or place dollops of the cheese mixture onto the pears.  Sprinkle with the thyme leaves and drizzle with honey.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!