Rosé-poached Pears with Thyme

Ingredients

Cooks in:15 minutes        Serves:4

• 1 cup rosé wine (red or white)
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 star anise
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 Tbsp sugar or honey
• 4 medium-sized ripe but firm pears, peeled and cored

For the Chocolate Sauce

• 200g white or blonde (caramel) chocolate, roughly chopped
• 100ml cream
• Mascarpone, to serve (optional)

What to do

1. In a medium-sized saucepan on med-high heat, add the wine, thyme, star anise and honey. Bring to the simmer and reduce the heat to low-medium.

2. Add the pears to the wine syrup and leave to simmer for a further 15-20 minutes or until cooked through and can be easily pierced with a knife. Remove the pears and allow the sauce to reduce further until syrupy.

3. Heat the chocolate and cream together over a double boiler until the chocolate has melted and makes a silky sauce.

4. Serve the pears with a drizzle of the reduced syrup and chocolate sauce, and a dollop of mascarpone if you like.

Photo from 'Sarah Graham's Food Safari' by Ricardo de Leça.

Share this recipe