Have you tried wine poached pears before? You may have guessed by now, that we adore cooking with wine and not because of the deep rich flavors it gives to the dish but also the fragrant pleasure, which accompany this task. Wine is really versatile with all the rich and beautiful aromas and we use it as a “Liquid Spice” in our cooking and baking. Last week when the winter rainstorms announced their arrival instead of complaining about the weather we opened a bottle of wine and started to cook. Literary we cooked with a whole bottle of wine.
As we live near the Santa Barbara wine country with so many great Syrahs to choose from we could not imagine anything else for this recipe. Feel free to use any other fruity red wine you prefer like Zinfandel, Pinot Noir or even Chianti for these Red Wine Poached Pears. You don’t have to use a very expensive wine since it will be cooked quite a bit, but make sure it is a wine you would not mind drinking. Poached pears are the ultimate wine country treat and served in many restaurants in Europe and this side of the Atlantic. We prefer to use Bosc pear for the slightly firmer flesh and elegant long neck and stem.
To poach pears in spicy red wine is always a delicious idea because of the inviting aromas you can enjoy when the wine evaporates during gentle cooking. During poaching the tender flesh of the pears absorb the spicy sweet flavors and the wine paints the globes into gorgeous jewel like hues.
In the past we often served these tasty wine soaked pears just ala natural by simply placing the pears into a soup bowl drizzled with a few spoonfuls of the wine syrup. You can serve this dessert warm or cold and with a dollop of sweet cream on the side. On a cold winter evening the wine infused bites give you warm comfort and casual elegance. This is how we mostly enjoy it because we are just to impatient to wait and they look really beautiful and elegant. How about making these Red Wine Paoched Pears for your next date night?
Red Wine Poached Pears
Ingredients
FOR THE PEARS
- 1 Bottle of Syrah or other fruity red wine
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 2 Cinnamon Sticks
- 1 Orange - peeled and juiced
- 2 fresh Rosemary Sprig
- 6 Bosc Pears - peeled
FOR THE TOPPING
- 3/4 cup Mascarpone Cheese
- 20 Walnut Halves - toasted - Keep 12 whole and roughly chop the rest
Instructions
- In a deep pot combine red wine, honey, cinnamon sticks, orange juice and peel and the rosemary sprigs.
- Cover the pot and bring to a boil and over medium low heat simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir well.
- In the meantime peel the pears but leave the stalks on. Cut a little off the bottom from each so that the pear can stand upright straight. With a teaspoon remove the core from bottom.
- Gently place the pears upright in the pot, cover and simmer over medium low heat for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Time to time spoon the wine syrup over the pears to cook even. With a knife test the pears to make sure they are tender but still firm.
- With a slotted spoon remove the pears and set aside.
- Continue to simmer the spicy wine syrup for about 15 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by half.
- To serve place pears in individual bowls and spoon some of the wine syrup over.
- For an extra special treat we cut the pears in half place them over the wine syrup and spoon a dollop of Mascarpone cheese on top. Decorate with walnuts halves and sprinkle the chopped nuts.
Nutrition
The Silhouette of a pear is so inspirational that artists have long painted stills of pears. Corina painted this vibrant pear behind us.
As the evening progressed, we made so many poached pears that we ended up creating a red wine poached pear tart meringue topping the very next day that was too tasty. We will share that recipe soon too. Bon appetit!
Hi, first of all thanks for visiting my humble blog. I am glad that I return your visit. Oh my, you have a very wonderful and informative blog! Your poached pears do sound great and I am sure everyone will be tempted by its wondrous sweet aroma of wine. Well, I am convinced by your red wine poached pears – a very ideal marriage of both. Perfect and Awesome! Like your presentation and great shots! Would give this a try and thanks so much for sharing! You have a fabulous day ahead and cheers 🙂
Thank you Ivy for all those lovely compliments about our blog and pear photos! We are so glad you came and liked the wine poached pears. It was such a fun time making these tasty wine soaked pears and a rainy day was the prefect excuse to warm up the house with the scent of wine. They are so simple to make and just take a little patience. The best part is that the natural shape of the pear brings the elegance to this recipe. Have a wonderful week!
Cheers!
J+C
I love cooking with pears. For some reason though, they always end up on the savoury dishes rather than sweet. I quite often choose poached pears at restaurants for dessert.
Hi David, we too enjoyed cooking with pears, perhaps a bit too much as we ended up making quite a lot of pears and desserts. These pears are not too sweet and could easily be transformed into savory dishes.
Cheers!
J+C
This is such a great dish! Perfect blend of flavors, and the pears look so wonderful. Good stuff — thanks so much.
Hi John! We love the melange of flavors from the wine and pear. Enjoy
J+C
Wow! How absolutely gorgeous and elegant is this dish? It looks so good – almost to pretty to eat. But, just almost. Now please, pass me a fork!
Oh thank you Kristi! This is so funny, we were saying the same about them being too pretty to eat, however the fork won 🙂
J+C
Beautiful photos! I love pears, your dessert recipe looks delicious!
Thank you Foodie in WV! They are so simple to make:)
Cheers,
J+C
Mmm … I definitely like the sound of the red wine poached pear tart with meringue! But even the poached pears by themselves look exquisite. I bet they’re fabulous with mascapone but I bet they’d go great with Greek yoghurt too (as I’m in Greece 😉
Mmmm… Helen, what a delicious idea! We love Greek yoghurt and have to try with pears soon. Perhaps with a little honey drizzled on top too. In Germany we had several Greek friends with restaurants and they served the best Gyro with Tzatziki. You must indulge in the many beautiful authentic foods there:)
J+C
You both always do a great job! Poached pears have been a real favorite of mine for a long time, and these ones in red wine with rosemary look beyond delicious and aromatic. A simple and comforting yet elegant dish suitable for different occasions…
You are so sweet Denise! It is our favorite too and it seems these vibrant jewels are enjoyed all over the world. Last year our Brazilian friend made us several delicious dishes and for dessert a decadent mousse with poached pears.
Cheers,
J+C
No, I can’t say I’ve tried wine poached pears before. But I think I would really like them…thanks for a beautiful inspiration! 🙂 ela
Hello Ela! Poached fruits are really satisfying and we do hope you will try them soon:)
Cheers,
J+C
Beautiful styling and setup — i’ve always associated poached pears in wine as “elegance” in the foodie world 🙂
You right Kiran, they are utterly elegant and it is so simple to make. When we lived in Germany we had often poached fruit in the winter:)
J+C
Wow!! These pears look delicious!! And your photography is so beautiful!! Just found your blog btw!! So nice 🙂 I hope that you have a lovely rest of your weekend!!
Thank you for your kind comment and so glad you found us! Hope you will get the chance to try these pears soon:)
Cheers,
J+C
Those pears look so beautiful and I can imagine the taste is wonderful. Can’t wait to try them this weekend with a little spoon of mascarpone and toasted nuts. Sounds so delicious!
Wine poached pears take so little time and are really impressive. Hope you will enjoy making them soon:)
Cheers,
J+C