Words and photos by Susie Sandford Smith

Oats are odd. If I eat cooked oats, in other words - if I eat porridge, I'm hungry again within about an hour but, if I eat them raw with yoghurt and fruit, for example, I stay full for ages. Somebody suggested to me once that it was probably the addition of the fruit that was making the difference so, in the interests of experimentation, I ditched my usual porridge with coconut flakes and chestnut jam (it's not really jam, not as we know it at least) and tried a much more souped up brekkie.

Salted, caremelised pear and cinnamon porridge

This recipe is perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch, where time is rich and you're in the mood for indulgence. But, it really does only take 10 minutes or so, so it's perfectly easy to throw together before heading out to work (and I do know that some of you will be heading out to work at the weekend, or such like, and during the week might be the time when you can be more relaxed). The time that it takes to cook the pear does depend on how ripe the pear is in the first place. I like to go with one that's quite hard so that it keeps its shape and doesn't just turn into a pear mush.

You'll see that I use two different types of salt and, honestly...., I think that I'm just being pretentious but, it's what I did for this photoshoot so I wrote it down! Feel free to use whatever salt you want so long as it's good salt with a good clean taste.

Serves 1 but, you'll probably feel pretty stuffed if you eat every last mouthful.

Ingredients

1/2 cup jumbo oat flakes

1 cup milk

1 pinch rock salt

1 pinch sea salt (I use fleur de sel)

1/2 cinnamon stick (you could use vanilla instead but I wanted the sweet warmth that cinnamon offers)

Knob or two of butter

1 pear (I used a hard Conference pear for these photos)

1 generous tsp honey

1 tbsp almond butter - to serve

Dollop (that's about a heaped tablespoon) natural yoghurt - to serve

Cut the pear in half lenghtways and then in half again. Cut out the central core and then slice the pear thinly. Place a knob of butter and the cinnamon in a frying pan over a medium heat and once melted, add the pear slices. Cook the pear slices for 5 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until well softened - you may need to add a tiny slither more of butter if everything gets a bit too 'dry'. The harder the pear the longer the cooking time. My super hard Conference pear took 15 minutes but I usually use a less hard pear and the cooking time is usually around 10 minutes, which is perfect as that's exactly how long it takes to cook the porridge.

Once you have got the pears started, put the oats, milk and rock salt in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and then lower the heat to as low as your stovetop will go - ideally to a very gentle simmer. Cover the pan and simmer, without stirring, for 10 minutes. If your pears aren't quite ready, don't worry, just turn the porridge off and leave in the pan, covered, until you're ready for it.

Once the pears are browned all over and have softened slightly, add a teaspoon of honey and stir for a minute. The pears will go limp when you add the honey. Throw in your pinch of fleur de sel, or plain old sea salt, and stir again.

Stir a tablespoon of almond butter into the porridge and serve topped with the pears. Add a dollop of yoghurt (or cream, ooo..why not?) and throw in whatever else you fancy - a handful of blueberries perhaps, a sprinkling of toasted, flaked almonds or coconut flakes. Whatever tickles your boat or, just as is. I probably wouldn't go with anything too sweet though as the pears are already on the sweet side and the almond butter adds a sweetness to the whole thing too.

All in all a really delicious and filling breakfast that'll do the trick for a good few hours. I suspect it's the almond butter that adds the sustained fuel factor and not the caremelised pear but, who cares!? It's scrumptious, either way.