Looking for a great dish to make for your sweetheart? Treat them to gorgeous, red wine poached pears. The colour is spectacular and the romantic pear puns are endless!
INGREDIENTS
4-6 ripe firm pears, peeled
750ml bottle of red wine
1/2 cup of honey or sugar
1 cinnamon stick, snapped in half
1/2 vanilla pod, opened and halved
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
METHOD
Combine the wine, honey/sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and, rosemary into a deep medium pan and heat gently until the sweetener is dissolved.
Add the pears, making sure they are fully covered by wine, and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until they are just fork tender. The riper the pears, the faster they will poach.
Remove the pears from the pan with a slotted spoon and bring the wine mixture back to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 20 minutes or so or until the syrup is reduced by about half.
If you're serving the pears warm, spoon warm syrup over the pears. If you prefer to serve them cold, refrigerate the pears and syrup for up to two days.