Red Wine Poached Pears

Ingredients

• 6 firm-ripe Bosc pears
• 1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 3 strips orange peel
• 1 vanilla bean, split, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• whipped cream, mascarpone or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Steps

1. Peel the pears, leaving the stems on. Slice a thin piece off the bottoms so they stand up. Core from the bottom with a small spoon if you like.
2. In a pot just large enough to hold the pears, bring the wine, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, orange peel and vanilla to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
3. Lay the pears in the liquid and cover with a round of parchment so the tops stay submerged.
4. Simmer gently 25 to 35 minutes, turning occasionally, until a knife slides easily into the thickest part.
5. Lift out the pears. Boil the liquid until reduced to about 1 cup of syrup, 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Serve the pears warm or chilled, standing in a pool of syrup, with cream or ice cream.

TipLeave the pears in the cooled wine overnight for a deeper color all the way through.