Pears are a fruit that I have enjoyed since my early childhood. My grandparents pear tree was one of my favourites in the their garden. I remember that it would bear an abundance of fruit which my Nonna and I would clean, cook and preserve each year. To this day I still enjoy pears either firm, cooked and/or preserved.
When I’m entertaining or simply feel like indulging, an all time favourite sweet treat I enjoy is pears cooked in red wine. They are so easy to make and always impress dinner guests. I am going to share with you the traditional recipe to cook at home. Let me know if you enjoy these pears as much as I do.
Ingredients:
8 firm, ripe pears, peeled
½ cup of freshly sqeezed lemon juice
2 cups of water
2 cups red wine (a dry variety works well)
2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
4 cinnamon sticks
2 cup of sugar
4 lemons, sliced
Preparation and Cooking Method:
1. Place the lemon juice in a small bowl and roll each pear in the juice.
2. Combine water, wine, ground cinnamon, cinnamon stick, sugar and lemon slices in a saucepan. Place over low heat and simmer until the sugar dissolves.
3. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add the pears together with any remaining lemon juice and simmer for a further 30 minutes, turning them occasionally to ensure even cooking and colour.
5. Let the pears and syrup cool then cover and place in the fridge overnight to further infuse the flavours.
The pears can be served cold however I prefer to heat them again in the syrup then remove the pears and boil the syrup for 15 minutes to allow it to reduce to a thicker consistency to drizzle over the pears. For the ultimate in indulgence I love to serve them with chestnut cream but that’s a recipe I’ll share with you another time.
As my Nonna and I would say before indulging on cooked pears, buon appetito!
Flashback to the mid '80: A photo of me with my favourite things... my fashionable accessories, my furry pet and my grandparents pear tree. Clearly not much has changed.
Flashback to the late '70: My Nonna picking fruit off her lemon tree.