Poached Pears in Red Wine with Lemon Curd Ice Cream

1h 50 mins

4 people

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

1h 30 mins

Total Time

1h 50 mins

Peras al vino are a classic Spanish dessert from La Rioja. The poached pears are very slowly poached in red wine, sugar and spices until tender and served cold with a drizzle of the cooking liquid and some whipped cream or ice cream on the side. This recipe serves the delicious poached and spiced pears with lemon curd ice cream - a flavour that doesn't get the attention it deserves! While poached pears are quite popular, this specific dessert idea is OLD SCHOOL, often seen in 1980s restaurant menus but nowadays long lost. The secret is to make a good cooking liquor that penetrates and flavours the pears well.

Ingredients
Method

For the Pears:
4 large William pears, peeled
1 bottle of full body red wine
1 glass of port
250g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split into two
3 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
Peel of 1 orange
Peel of 1 lemon
For the Lemon Curd Ice Cream:
300ml fresh whole milk
300ml double cream
250g caster sugar
6 egg yolks
300g lemon curd
Peel of 1 lemon

To make the ice cream, heat the milk and cream with the lemon peel and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover with cling film. Allow the mix to infuse for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thick. Return the milk mixture to the heat, bring to the boil, remove from the heat and strain without the lemon peel into the egg mixture and mix well. Return the mix to the pan and with a wooden spoon stir constantly on a gentle heat without allowing the mixture to boil until a nice custard of single cream consistency is achieved, it takes about 5 minutes. At this stage spoon into the mixture the lemon curd and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool down, once cold pour into the ice cream maker churning the mix for around 20 minutes or following the guidelines of your ice cream maker. Place in a suitable container, cover and freeze until required.
To make the pears, use a large sauce pan and pour in 250ml of the red wine, the sugar, the port, the spices, bay leaf and citrus peel. Warm the contents without boiling them and cover with some foil and allow them to infuse for 10 minutes. This will make the poaching liquid more flavoursome. Add the remaining wine and bring to a simmering stage, add your pears and poach them covered with a lid for around 20 to 30 minutes. The cooking time will very much depend on the ripeness of your pears - they should be tender all the way through when pierced with a cocktail stick. When the pears are ready, scoop them out into a container and allow them to cool down. Return the pan to the heat and boil the poaching liquid until you have reduced it by three quarters of it's volume. You need to end up with a fairly thick syrup. Allow the syrup and pears to chill down before you store them in the refrigerator. You can make them up to 2 days ahead.
To serve the dish, slice a thin piece from the base of each pear, so you can stand them up on the plate. Drizzle the red wine syrup over each pear and add a scoop of the lemon curd ice cream over some crushed ginger biscuits.

Ingredients

For the Pears:
4 large William pears, peeled
1 bottle of full body red wine
1 glass of port
250g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split into two
3 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon
1 star anise
1 bay leaf
Peel of 1 orange
Peel of 1 lemon
For the Lemon Curd Ice Cream:
300ml fresh whole milk
300ml double cream
250g caster sugar
6 egg yolks
300g lemon curd
Peel of 1 lemon

Method

To make the ice cream, heat the milk and cream with the lemon peel and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and cover with cling film. Allow the mix to infuse for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thick. Return the milk mixture to the heat, bring to the boil, remove from the heat and strain without the lemon peel into the egg mixture and mix well. Return the mix to the pan and with a wooden spoon stir constantly on a gentle heat without allowing the mixture to boil until a nice custard of single cream consistency is achieved, it takes about 5 minutes. At this stage spoon into the mixture the lemon curd and mix well. Allow the mixture to cool down, once cold pour into the ice cream maker churning the mix for around 20 minutes or following the guidelines of your ice cream maker. Place in a suitable container, cover and freeze until required.
To make the pears, use a large sauce pan and pour in 250ml of the red wine, the sugar, the port, the spices, bay leaf and citrus peel. Warm the contents without boiling them and cover with some foil and allow them to infuse for 10 minutes. This will make the poaching liquid more flavoursome. Add the remaining wine and bring to a simmering stage, add your pears and poach them covered with a lid for around 20 to 30 minutes. The cooking time will very much depend on the ripeness of your pears - they should be tender all the way through when pierced with a cocktail stick. When the pears are ready, scoop them out into a container and allow them to cool down. Return the pan to the heat and boil the poaching liquid until you have reduced it by three quarters of it's volume. You need to end up with a fairly thick syrup. Allow the syrup and pears to chill down before you store them in the refrigerator. You can make them up to 2 days ahead.
To serve the dish, slice a thin piece from the base of each pear, so you can stand them up on the plate. Drizzle the red wine syrup over each pear and add a scoop of the lemon curd ice cream over some crushed ginger biscuits.

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Chef's Profile

Javier De La Hormaza

Javier is a Basque born, trained chef and hospitality professional, owner of Basco Fine Foods, a Spanish food and drink importer based in Yorkshire. He regularly runs client food and drink events around the country and he is a course tutor at Hartingtons of Bakewell cookery school. Javier's passion lies on bringing quality Spanish ingredients and recipes to as many people as possible.

Twitter: @bascofinefoods
Instagram: @mrbasco