Spiced Ginger Red Wine Poached Pears

Serves 6

I love experimenting with new ways to cook fruit.  With the recent chillier temperatures, I’ve really been enjoying roasting and poaching in-season fruits like pears, plums and figs.  I also love mulled wine although I am well aware that in most societies, I am waaaay too early to start enjoying that particular tipple.  If I had my way, I’d go straight from drinking Pimms in the summer time to mulled wine in the autumn but apparently it’s frowned upon, so I find myself in signature-drink no mans land.  Which is a scary place to be, right?! That’s why I came up with this particular dessert.  I’m letting you guys in on the little secret, but don’t tell anyone else: I essentially poach the pears in something that looks like, smells like and tastes like mulled wine, but all hidden under the guise of “spiced ginger red wine poached pears” instead. No one will find out that I get to enjoy mulled wine in October and I officially declare myself a genius.  

So while this may not be the absolute healthiest way to prepare fruit, after a long hard week, I want to treat myself with a sweet fruity dessert that is bursting with flavour, yet not as heavy as a crumble.  That’s why these poached pears are perfect.  They can be enjoyed with a dollop Greek yogurt and a sprinkling of toasted seeds, or else I prefer mine served with some warm melted chocolate (I melted white chocolate to make the photo pop, but I would normally go for dark chocolate instead). They can also be served cold, on top of some yogurt and granola, or else sliced into pancakes or porridge.

They are a great dinner party dessert because they can be prepped in advance and look so pretty when you cut through them and see the different colours.

INGREDIENTS

·      6 Pears
·      750ml Red Wine
·      Zest & Juice of 1 Orange
·      2 Cinnamon Sticks
·      80g Xylitol or sugar of your choice
·      3 x Stem Ginger Cubes (from a jar)
·      2 tbsp Syrup from the Stem Ginger jar

METHOD

·      Peel the pears.
·      Slice the stem ginger.
·      In a large saucepan, heat the red wine, orange zest and juice, cinnamon and xylitol until it boils.
·      Turn the temperature right down to low and carefully place the pears inside. 
·      Add the stem ginger and ginger syrup and put the lid on.
·     Gently simmer for 15-20 minutes until the pears get tender but not too soft and squishy. 
·      Serve with melted chocolate, cream or greek yogurt.