Red Wine Pears

Ingredients

  • 6

    slightly underripe small pears 

  • 1

    (750-milliliter) bottle medium-bodied dry red wine, such as Côtes du Rhône

  • 1 ¼

    cups/250 grams granulated sugar 

  • 1

    teaspoon whole black peppercorns

  • 4

    whole cloves 

  • 1

    (2-inch-long) cinnamon stick

  • Crème fraîche or ice cream, for serving

  • cup pomegranate seeds, for serving

Preparation

  1. Using a sharp vegetable peeler, peel the pears top to bottom, leaving them whole, with stems attached and the core intact.
  2. Put the pears in a large, wide nonreactive pot (enameled or stainless steel) in one layer. Add the wine, sugar and spices. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted encounters no resistance. Remove from the heat and transfer the pears to a deep container, leaving the liquid in the pot.
  3. Heat the poaching liquid over high and boil down until it is reduced by half. (You should have about 2 1/2 cups syrup.) Pour syrup over pears, and refrigerate overnight if possible.
  4. To serve, put each pear in a soup plate and spoon over a little of the red wine syrup. Add a dollop of crème fraîche or a scoop of ice cream, and finish with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds.

Dining and Cooking