Pears Poached in Beaujolais

By Martha Rose Shulman

Pears Poached in Beaujolais
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(161)
Comments
Read comments

This is a beautiful dessert. The pears are very gently poached for just 10 minutes in red wine that is infused with peppercorns and cinnamon. Then they cool in the wine. The color is particularly striking, as the pears remain translucent and white on the inside but are infused with red wine on the surface.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves six
  • 6firm but ripe pears, such as Comice or Bartlett
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1bottle Beaujolais or other fruity red wine
  • ½cup mild flavored honey, such as clover
  • 2tablespoons peppercorns
  • 1cinnamon stick
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

307 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 57 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 42 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 9 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Fill a bowl with water, and add the lemon juice. Peel the pears, taking care to leave the stem intact, and place in the bowl of water.

  2. Step 2

    Tie the peppercorns and cinnamon stick into a cheesecloth pouch, and place in a large saucepan. Add the wine and honey, and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer 10 minutes. Drain the pears and carefully add to the wine. Simmer very gently for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow the pears to cool in the liquid. Discard the cheesecloth bag.

  3. Step 3

    Place the pears in serving dishes. Return the wine to the saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce by half of its volume. Spoon over the pears. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled.

Tip
  • Advance preparation: These hold well for several hours.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

Ratings

5 out of 5
161 user ratings
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Comments

Art

I added a star anise to the cheesecloth pouch.

Longer Cook Time Required

You need to poach the pears for a lot longer than 10m to get a soft consistency. I would recommend closer to 30.

lucy

Superb. Does it need this much honey, though? Maybe... I added one star anise after looking at the comments.

Cleo

Can they be made a day in advance?

SophiaL

Excellent! I added Star Anise to the bouquet as well as an additional bottle of wine. I wanted to make sure the pears were submerged. I left the pears in longer that the 10 minutes to get the consistency I desired. I ended up cutting them in half lengthwise, removing the center seed part then slicing into a fan shape. I thought the reduction could have been more viscous but the flavor profile was wonderful.

Longer Cook Time Required

You need to poach the pears for a lot longer than 10m to get a soft consistency. I would recommend closer to 30.

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