Pears in Red Wine

Submitted by admin on 10 February, 2010 - 11:31.

Another old favourite and very easy. Cook this dish a day or two before serving.

Serves 4.4 pears (Conference is the ideal variety/shape, otherwise similar will do). The pears should be VERY FIRM to the touch, not feeling at all ripe.1 orange2 x 3” cinnamon sticks4 x whole black peppercorns1 tablespoon soft dark brown sugarmarsala, banyuls or other similar red heavy sweet dessert wineUse an ovenproof dish, only slightly larger than the size of the 4 pears standing upright in it.Cut 4 thin orange slices, say 2cm, and place these on the base of the ovenproof dish.

Peel the pears, leaving the stalk in place and stand them on the orange slices.Add cinnamon sticks, peppercorns and sugar.Add juice from remainder of the orange.Add sufficient wine – this, together with orange juice, should cover approx. 1.5 to 2 cm of base of dish.

The dish should be covered quite firmly and placed in the oven at 180 degrees for approx. 20 mins.

At this point the pears should be just starting to soften if pierced with fine tool.

Turn pears on one side, cover & cook for another 10 minutesThen turn pears onto the other side and repeat, cooking for another 10 mins.

Turn oven off and leave dish, still covered, in the oven until cool (again turning pears once or twice so that the pears become a wonderfully dark colour).

Serve with soured cream or creme fraiche.