Caramelized Pears with OKA Cheese on Croissant Sticks

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 330°F. Put hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for 10 -15 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cooled, lightly crush so that you have large chunky pieces of hazelnuts.
• Using half the butter, spread on the Croissant Loaf slices, on both sides.
• Place a skillet on medium heat and grill the slices of croissant loaf on both sides until golden and toasty. Place on a wire rack to cool.
• Peel, core, and cut the pears into wedges. Set aside.
• Heat a pan on medium and added the sugar. Carefully begin caramelizing the sugar to a light caramel color. Once all the sugar has melted and caramelized, carefully de-glaze the sugar with the remaining butter and pear juice.
• Turn the heat down to medium low and add the pears into the caramel and stir gently. Continue caramelizing the pears until they are tender (but not falling apart) and have a golden caramel color and are slightly translucent.
• Pour the pears and caramel onto a parchment covered baking sheet to cool. Set aside.
• Using a serrated knife, cut the slices of Croissant Loaf into sticks width strips. You should be able to get 3 strips per slice. If you would like clean edges all around, cut the crusts off.
• Place 1 piece of OKA cheese on top of each croissant stick, then top with one piece of caramelized pear. Sprinkle broken hazel nut pieces on top. Garnish with fresh sprigs of rosemary.
• Finish with a few grains of coarse salt and pepper on each piece.