Pears poached in White Wine, Brown Sugar and Star Anise

The following recipe is one of the shortest ones in this blog, yet I’m sure you’ll find it is also one that you will make frequently, as it is so easy to prepare and so tasty.

Thanks to the observant eye of one of the readers of this blog, I realized that despite the fact its photo is on the header of the blog, I haven’t posted the recipe for it so far. So, here it is, at long last…

Originally published in my cookbook, which is dedicated to quick and tasty recipes, this dish is one of my all time go-to recipe when I need a quick and impressive looking dessert.
While poached pears recipes are not scarce, when I came up with this recipe, I wanted to avoid the common combination of wine/cinnamon stick, as wonderful as it is. As I love the wonderful aroma of Star Anise, I’ve decided to use it instead. The next thing was to replace white sugar with dark brown sugar, and the result is in front of you.
With very few ingredients and a short preparation and cooking time, you end up with a beautiful, aromatic and tasty dessert.

The pears can be served as is, or with vanilla ice cream, yogurt or whipped cream. They are also great on top of a sponge cake, or Lady Finger cookies.

At the Jewish New Year’s dinner, which is celebrated this evening, one of the culinary traditions is to dip a slice of apple in honey, and eat it as a symbol for a sweet New Year. Many other sweet dishes are added as well to the dinner, and even the salt on the table is replaced with sugar – all in order to emphasize this hope for a sweet New Year. This dish is just the perfect dessert for this dinner – and on any other time of the year.

Happy and Sweet New Year to all!

Makes: 4-6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 12-20 minutes, depending on type of pears

Ingredients:
4-6 medium size pears, ripe but firm
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups fruity white wine
2-3 Star Anise
Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Peel the pears, cut in half and core with a melon-baller.
2. In a wide pot, mix and add all rest of ingredients. Add the pears, in one layer, cut side down.

3. Bring to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-high.
4. Cook for 12-20 minutes, depending on the size of the pears and how firm they are, shaking the pot gently occasionally, until the pears change their color, turn translucent and the sauce reduced a bit.

5. Serve warm or cold, with the syrup and any other additions mentioned above.