Preheat the oven to 180C / 350 F.

Cut the pears in half and remove the core with a melon baller (this makes it so easy to do). Place the pears on the bay leaves on a small baking tray.

Add the butter, maple, vanilla, and 2 bay leaves to a small pot and bring to a boil and then pour ¾ of the sauce over the pears. I allowed most of it to pool in the gauged-out cores of the fruit (*you could probably do this in the microwave too).

Roast in the oven for 25 minutes and until the pears are starting to soften (Mine were fairly firm so they needed this amount of time. If your pears are quite ripe reduce the roasting time to 15 minutes).

Take the tray out of the oven and tuck the cheese in amongst the pears. Drizzle over the remaining sauce and scatter over the chopped walnuts. Return the tray to the oven and roast for a further 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it so that nothing gets too dark and if need be, loosely cover with a piece of tin foil.

Serve immediately with crusty bread or crackers.