Stuffed Poached Pears
Stuffed Poached Pears
At the restaurant, we serve these pears as a salad with red oak and watercress leaves and use the poaching liquid as the dressing. This is also a very popular vegetarian side for our guests' holiday gatherings.
It can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cut up any leftover pears to top the Stuffed Endive Spears, see page 239, for an easy holiday party bite.
Serves 4
Stuffing
- ½ cup pecans, lightly roasted
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup blue cheese, crumbled
To Poach
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- ¼ cup chopped shallots
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic
- 2 whole cloves
- 1 star anise
- 3 allspice berries, lightly crushed
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp green peppercorns, lightly crushed
- 4 large Bosc pears, peeled with stems intact
- 1 ½ cups sweet red wine, preferably Port
- ½ cup red wine
- ½ tsp coarse kosher salt
- Pinch freshly ground black pepper
Prepare the Stuffing
Place the pecans and dried cranberries in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl.
Incorporate the blue cheese into the pecan and dried fruit mixture using your hands. Set aside until ready to use or refrigerate up to 2 days in advance.
Poach the Pears
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Preheat a large ovenproof saucepan or Dutch oven over medium high heat with the olive oil and half of the butter.
Once the butter has completely melted, add the shallots and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the cloves, star anise, allspice, red pepper flakes and green peppercorns.
Add the pears and allow them to lightly caramelize on each side, about 3 to 4 minutes, rotating occasionally to achieve even color.
Add the sweet red wine, red wine, salt and black pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and leave gently bubbling for 5 minutes, occasionally basting the pears with the wine. Remove from heat and cover.
Finish in the Oven
Place the pears in the oven and cook until soft when pierced with a sharp knife, about 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven every 15 minutes and rotate the pears using tongs to ensure even poaching.
Remove from the oven and carefully transfer the pears to a sheet pan to cool.
Reduce the Poaching Liquid
Place the pot with the poaching liquid over high heat and reduce by half, about 10 to 12 minutes.
Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and remove from the heat. Transfer the sauce to a gravy bowl.
Stuff and Serve
Once the pears are cool enough to handle, core each pear from the bottom using an apple corer.
Stuff each pear with the dried fruit mixture. Reserve any remaining mixture for garnish.
Place the pears on a platter and pour half of the sauce over them. Reserve the remaining sauce for serving and garnish the pears with the remaining dried fruit mixture.