Poached pears in red wine are sweetly spiced and deliciously tender. Best served with ice cream and a red wine dessert sauce made with the leftover poaching liquid
2cupsred wine I prefer Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot
1cuporange juice
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
3 to 6mediumbosc pears
Instructions
Place sugar, wine, orange juice, vanilla, and spices into your saucepan and bring to a simmer
Peel your pears and place them into the poaching liquid. Make sure they are covered. If they aren't, add more wine or juice until they are covered.
Let your pears cook in the poaching liquid for 20 minutes. Occasionally turning them to make sure they are cooking on all sides evenly.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the pears to cool in the poaching liquid
Transfer the pears and liquid to a container with a lid (making sure pears are covered) and allow them to cool overnight. The pears will deepen in color overnight.
Before serving the pears, remove them from the liquid and set aside.
Strain your poaching liquid and return to the heat. Simmer over medium heat to reduce to a thick syrup (reduce by about ⅓). Allow to cool.
Serve poached pears with ice cream, whipped cream or whipped mascarpone cheese and a generous drizzle of your cooled syrup.