I love Autumn and pears when in season. I get to prepare a lot of recipes with them and here one of my favourite one, Poached pears in a spiced red wine.
So traditional in Italy, pears cooked in a red wine is a recipe disputed between France and Piemonte, Italy.
With a beautiful ruby red colour and a delicate and spicy flavour, pears in red wine are excellent on their own, but they are sublime if accompanied - still warm - with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Easy and quick to prepare, this recipe make a beautiful dinner dessert. To get the best result and flavour, it is all about choosing the right ingredients: pears, red wine and spices.
You will need pears that are not too large and have a firm pulp: Williams are perfect, because they are sweet but not watery and do not fall apart when cooked, even if you remove the skin.
As for the spices you can choose the ones you prefer but here are my recommendations for your best results: cinnamon, a couple of cloves, a star anise, a little lemon zest, juniper berries, cardamom pods and black peppercorns, spices that go perfectly with both pears and with wine (some of them are in fact what we used for mulled wine).
As for the wine, I suggest you use a full-bodied and not excessively sweet wine, such as Nero D'Avola or Conviviale Primitivo. The last one is the one I used for my recipe, is rich characterful, southern red the Manduria zone in the Salento, Puglia region. This is the heartland of Primitivo, famed for generous, concentrated wines. Aromas of bramble fruit, black cherry and hint of sweet spice. The palate is richly flavoured with plum and wild cherry fruit, a hint of dried figs, and ripe tannins balanced by fresh acidity.
Serve 4 people
INGREDIENTS:
4 organic Williams pears
500ml red wine
160g sugar
2 cinnamon stick
2 star anice
1 clove
1 cardamom pod
half teaspoon black peppercorns
half teaspoon Jupiter
1/4 organic lemon (only lemon peel)
50ml water
First peel the pears, being careful to keep them whole and keep the stalk.
Take a thick-bottomed, high-sided pan, large enough to hold all the pears and pour in the red wine, water, sugar, lemon peel and all the spices.
Turn on the heat to medium intensity and add the pears.
Cook them over low heat for about 15/20 minutes, turning them two or three times during the cooking.
To do this, help yourself with a spoon and a fork. After 15/20 minutes your pears should be cooked if you used small or medium pears.
However, with a fork you can check them if they are cooked or not; the pulp must be soft but not crushed.
Allow extra time if you think they are not cooked or less time if you think they are ready earlier.
For larger pears it will obviously take more time.
Once the pears are cooked, drain them with a spoon and set aside. I personally like to leave all the spices in the wine but if you prefer you can remove them (if you want you can filter the liquid with the help of a sieve) and let the wine sauce thicken on the stove for about 5 minutes.
Pears in red wine are ready! They are served warm, best in a small dessert bowls or plates, poured with the wine cooking juice.
A scoop of vanilla or cream ice cream can also accompanied this beautiful dessert: the cold contrast is delicious! If so serve them in a plate instead of a bowl.
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