Baking pear sauce and applesauce in the oven

Tom Vigue learned from an old-timer how to make syrupy fruit sauces and butters by roasting the fruit. We love this recipe. It requires no sugar, spices, cream or ice cream.

Fill a large (or huge) roasting pan with whole pears or apples with only the stems removed if the fruit is of nice quality, or with fruits trimmed of problems. Roast at about 350° for a couple of hours, checking occasionally to mash down any fruit before it scorches.

After two hours or more, when fruit is soft, process through a food mill to remove skins and cores. At that point you will have a sauce.

Return sauce to the oven and roast for a few more hours, depending on how concentrated you want it. A very concentrated sweet fruit butter eventually results without ever burning the bottom of the pan.