Red Wine Poached Pears

How was I supposed to resist buying these pears?



Gorgeous and oh-so-small Red d'Anjou Pears - they called out to me, buy me, make something delicious with me.



After playing with them, photographing them at every angle, the time eventually came that I had to do something. I suppose what appealed to me most was their skin colour, so I decided to poach them, not in a simple syrup, but in red wine, in a way even peeled they would still have that shade of red to them.




Red Wine Poached Pears

8 small Red D'anjou Pears, peeled
2 cups Red Wine (I used a sweeter styled red - A Hungarian Bor Forrás)
150 grams caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
half a vanilla pod, split

Choose a saucepan that will snugly fit the pears - you also need the liquid to fully cover the pears.

Place the wine, sugar, cinnamon stick and vanilla pod in a saucepan over medium heat - stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the pears - turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and place the lid on. Poach until the pears have almost fully softened - the time taken will depend on the size of the pears used. Turn the heat off and let the pears sit in the poaching liquid until cool - the pears will continue cooking during this time.

Here's a handy hint - if you want the pears to have a deeper shade of red, just add a few berries to the poaching liquid.

Strain the poaching liquid - if you like you can reduce some of this down by simply boiling it. It will form a wonderfully intense syrup and give you something a little more decadent.

The pears should be stored in the fridge, in a sealed container with the poaching liquid.