Pears Poached in Red Wine

I made these poached pears mainly because I wanted to use up the leftover marsala wine from the chicken marsala I made recently (that, and I love poached pears). You'll notice my pears didn't turn that gorgeous, deep red color they often do when poached in red wine (my marsala was on the light side). So you might want to pick a different wine if you're going for that look.

I served these with the poaching liquid, crème fraîche and pizzelles. You should consider crumbling the pizzelle over the top (I made the mistake of putting mine on top of the poaching liquid and the pizzelle soaked up most of it). It was still delicious, just a little soggy.

PEARS POACHED IN RED WINE

Makes 4 servings

1 (750 ml.) bottle dry red wine

2 cups water

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

4 firm but ripe pears, peeled, stems left intact

serving suggestions:

crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream

pizzelles or almond-anise biscotti

1.      Combine wine, water, sugar, orange juice, orange zest, cardamom and cinnamon in a heavy large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to simmer.

2.      Add pears and return mixture to simmer. Reduce heat and simmer slowly until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 25 minutes. Transfer pears to plate. Boil liquid in saucepan until reduced to 3 cups, about 20 minutes.

(Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill pears in poaching liquid. Before serving, rewarm over medium-low heat until pears are heated through.)

3.      Serve each pear with crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.  Drizzle with poaching liquid.  Garnish with pizzelle or biscotti crumbs (or serve whole on the side).

adapted from Bon Appétit, March 1997

peeled and raw

everybody in the pool

poached

poached on a plate

with just poaching liquid and pizzelles on the side