Pears in Red Wine? I enjoy a pear and a glass of red as much as the next person, but when someone first offered me Peras al Vino Tinto, I was not entirely sure what I was in for.
Fruit and wine, together in a pudding?
To my surprise, it was so tasty. Sweet, aromatic, and elegant enough to impress even the most sceptical dinner guest. This traditional Spanish dessert is simplicity itself, just three main ingredients and a little bit of patience.
What makes it so good? The deep richness of the wine, the natural sweetness of ripe pears. The result is a dessert that looks and taste far fancier than the effort required.
To make perfect pears in wine, two things matter most: use a good-quality red wine (something you would happily drink rather than cook with) and choose pears of similar size and ripeness so that they cook evenly.
A snug-fitting saucepan works best so the pears stay upright and soak up the flavours evenly. Once they have simmered to perfection, you will remove them briefly and reduce the wine syrup until it becomes thick and glossy.
Whether you serve them chilled from the fridge or at room temperature, they taste delicious either way. Mine were paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
How to make Pears in Red Wine
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves: 5
Ingredients
- 5 pears
- 500 ml red wine
- 175 g sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick (optional, but rather lovely)
Method
Peel the pears carefully, keeping the stems intact. In a saucepan, combine the wine, sugar, and cinnamon stick, and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Once the mixture begins to bubble, pop the pears inside and reduce the heat to medium-low.
Let them simmer for around 40 to 50 minutes, depending on ripeness, turning occasionally so they cook evenly. When a knife slides easily into the fruit, they are ready. Remove the pears and set them aside.
Increase the heat under the pan and reduce the wine mixture for about 10 minutes until it thickens into a deep, glossy syrup. Pour the sauce over the pears, allow them to cool, and serve.
Peras al Vino Tinto is a little Spanish magic made from the simplest of ingredients. Who knew pears and wine could get along quite this well?
