Ingredients
1 bottle (750 ml.) dry Prosecco or other sparkling wine, or dry white wine
1 c. water
1 c. granulated sugar
2 (1”-wide) strips of orange or lemon zest
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice (or 1 tbsp lemon juice)
Pinch saffron threads, or 1 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 vanilla pod, split and scraped (or 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract)
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
4 whole allspice berries
4 slightly underripe pears (Bosc is preferred); peeled, halved, and cored
Preparation
Step 1In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring Prosecco, water, and sugar to a boil.Step 2Reduce heat to medium low, and add zest, juice, and spices. Stir to combine and add pears. Make sure ingredients are submerged. (If necessary, place a plate or lid that is smaller than your pot on top of the pears.)Step 3Turn heat to low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until pears are tender and can be easily pierced with a knife without resistance. Remove the pears from the poaching liquid and set pears aside to cool.Step 4Strain poaching liquid, discard spices, and return liquid to pan. Turn heat to medium-high and reduce liquid by half to create a syrup, about 10 minutes. Let cool.Step 5Serve pears drizzled with syrup.
But under-ripe pears are an ideal ingredient in cooking, especially for poaching. Poaching slightly under-ripe pears makes them tender and sweetens them, while allowing them to maintain their structure. Once poached, they can be served warm or cold, garnished with a caramel reduction of the cooking liquid, and accompanied with everything from ice cream to whipped cream to yogurt. But since properly poached pears also retain that residual acid to balance the sweetness, they become an amazing and versatile ingredient for other dishes, like appetizers or salads, as a garnish for soups like pumpkin or butternut squash, or a surprising paring with entrées like roast chicken, braised curries, or stews. The not-too-sweet poaching liquid in this recipe features a star–and, no doubt, not cheap–ingredient: saffron. It gives the liquid and the pears a gorgeous sunny color, but also a flavor that works as well with cheese or greens as it does with vanilla ice cream. The saffron is optional; it is expensive, but we think it’s worth it for this dish. If you want an affordable swap, use ground turmeric, which will give you some of the color and a more subtle flavor. You can store the pears in the syrup in the fridge for up to 5 days. Made this? Let us know how it went in the comments below.
