Succulent wine-poached pears stuffed with a creamy blue cheese filling are equally delicious as a first course or sophisticated dessert. Poached pears also make a sublime addition to a weekend brunch menu.
INGREDIENTS:
For Poached Pears:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 vanilla bean, split, scraped
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Rind of 1 orange
1 bottle (750 ml) port wine or champagne*
6 medium Bartlett or comice pears, peeled, cut in half, and cored
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Blue Cheese and Walnut Filling:
1 cup crumbled Maytag (or similar) blue cheese
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
METHOD:
Poached Pears:
In a heavy sauce pot, combine the sugar and water together and bring to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the inside to remove the pulp. Add vanilla bean pulp, vanilla bean, rosemary sprig, orange rind, and port or champagne to simple syrup in a sauce pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and immediately turn down the heat. Simmer for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid.
Peel pears and place in a bowl of water to cover with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Cut pears in half (lengthwise). Remove the stem and core neatly with a melon ball tool. Carefully add pear halves to the hot wine mixture. Cover and simmer until pears are just tender, about 8-10 minutes, basting pears a few times while cooking. Remove from heat and allow pears to cool in the syrup. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until ready to assemble.
Blue Cheese and Walnut Filling:
Gently combine crumbled blue cheese with mascarpone. Add walnuts. Set aside.
To Assemble:
Gently remove pears from the syrup. Fill each pear half with a heaping tablespoon of blue cheese mixture.
Strain the remaining syrup. Spoon 2 – 3 tablespoons of syrup into the center of each dessert plate, place two filled pear halves on top of the syrup, and garnish with a fresh sprig of rosemary. Sprinkle with additional chopped walnuts, if desired.
YIELD: 6 servings
* For the poaching wine, you can also use a combination of white wine and Marsala or sherry, depending on the flavors you like best. Ruby port adds a festive rosy hue to the pears, and white wine and sherry impart a rich golden color.
