Poached Pears in Spiced Red Wine (video)

I love to entertain at home but I don’t always have time to spend in the kitchen. Between juggling home, kids, school, work, errands etc.… who does these days? So, when I do have the time, I try to prepare foods that will come in handy throughout the year. 

Christmas would not be Christmas without this dessert!! So easy and quick to make that even the most unaccomplished of cooks can’t fail at this recipe (other than by burning the pears!) 

So…. which pear??? There are several varieties of pear to choose from. My personal favourites are the Bosc and the Comice as they have a firm texture and hold their shape well after cooking. 

Poached pears make decadent deserts and are so versatile - you can serve them with homemade vanilla ice cream, use them in cakes, for a delightful upside down cake, muffins, crumble and more. 

As regards the wine? I always say: “if you can’t drink the wine you can’t cook with the wine”. So make sure that you choose a drinkable bottle of red wine. 

Note: despite most of the alcohol evaporating during cooking, a trace will remain in the cooking liquid. 

>>>>> Scroll Down for Video Demonstration <<<<<

Makes seven servings

Ingredients:

• 1 750cl bottle of red wine 
• 1 ½ cups sugar 
• 7 firm pears 
• 2-3 cinnamon 
• 20 cloves 
• 6 star anise 

Method:

• Peel the pears but keep the stem. You can leave them whole or cut them in half and take the core out as I prefer to do. Coat with lemon juice if you won’t be using them immediately and set aside. 
• Pour the wine into a medium-sized pot and add the sugar and the spices. Once the sugar has dissolved, gently drop the pears in and simmer for 30 minutes. 
• If you are not going to serve the pears immediately, you can store them in sterilized jars. Stack the pears in, then top with the cooking liquid. Make sure the rims of the jars are clean before closing. Like this, you can keep them refrigerated for up to a month. 

Per Serving: 362 Calories; 6g Fat (12.1% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 87g Carbohydrate; 14g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 51mg Sodium.

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