Red Wine Pears
Published Oct. 6, 2021
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus steeping
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 6slightly underripe small pears
- 1(750-milliliter) bottle medium-bodied dry red wine, such as Côtes du Rhône
- 1¼cups/250 grams granulated sugar
- 1teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 4whole cloves
- 1(2-inch-long) cinnamon stick
- Crème fraîche or ice cream, for serving
- ⅓cup pomegranate seeds, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
372 calories; 1 gram fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 70 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 58 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 9 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Using a sharp vegetable peeler, peel the pears top to bottom, leaving them whole, with stems attached and the core intact.
- Step 2
Put the pears in a large, wide nonreactive pot (enameled or stainless steel) in one layer. Add the wine, sugar and spices. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted encounters no resistance. Remove from the heat and transfer the pears to a deep container, leaving the liquid in the pot.
- Step 3
Heat the poaching liquid over high and boil down until it is reduced by half. (You should have about 2½ cups syrup.) Pour syrup over pears, and refrigerate overnight if possible.
- Step 4
To serve, put each pear in a soup plate and spoon over a little of the red wine syrup. Add a dollop of crème fraîche or a scoop of ice cream, and finish with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds.
Private Notes
Comments
I live in the country's greatest pear growing region, Oregon's Hood River Valley, so I make these frequently, but with a few amendments/variations. I often add strips or orange or lemon zest, whole allspice berries, a few tablespoons of brandy, or use late harvest Gewurztraminer instead of red wine. For a more savory dessert, serve with a wedge of blue cheese instead of the creme fraiche.
If you use a melon baller to take out the the core (go in from the bottom) it makes it easier to eat and the syrup flavours the pear from the inside and outside.
I make a variation on this with ground cardamom and orange peel instead of the cloves and peppercorn, using a mix of sugar / honey / orange juice as my sweetener. I have served it with crème fraîche, or ice cream, or mascarpone cheese. This is one of my go to holiday desserts
One of my favorite desserts I’ve made! This was the star of the show. Everyone loved it’, the creme fresh gives it a smooth flavor and tones down the sweetness in a delicious way! Will be making this again!
We didn't find "small" pears, so halved the pears. This helped them soak up more of the wine! Also, we served this as part of a cook-then-eat dinner party, so the pears didn't have a lot of time to cool off. Served over ice cream, the warm pears caused the ice cream to get very soft, making for an absolutely scrumptious dessert. With the other dishes we had at dinner, half a pear was the right serving size, so we had leftovers... which were also delicious the next day!
Watch out for those peppercorns. They get embedded in the pears.
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