Poached Pears in Vino (molto fino!)

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I’m taking photography lessons with Chris Corrado (www.christography.com). It was great to walk outside and take photos using depth of field and how effective it looks in photos. We stopped at a market and took this photo – (not bad). I bought some pears after the class and inspired to make my favorite poached pears.

A simple, elegant dessert and EASY to prepare. Adding your favorite spices enhance the flavors. Always use a good red wine when you are poaching the pears. An important rule of thumb is “always cook with wine that you will drink and serve your guests!

6 Peeled, Cored and Sliced Pears (Bosc or Anjou)
2 cups of red wine
1/2 cups of granulated sugar
1 lemon, juiced and lemon zest of the lemon (don’t waste anything my mother and nanna would say)
Dark chocolate shavings (sinful)
Marscapone, Burrata crème fraiche or scoop of vanilla ice cream (use your favorite)

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients, except pears, and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a low and add the pears. Simmer pears for 20 minutes and turn them occassionally to marry all of the flavors. Poke the pears at twenty minutes (until they are tender). Remove pears and let them cool. Boil wine sauce until the liquid has been reduced by half. Pour sauce over pears and serve with a tsp. of either Marscapone, Burrata crème fraiche or ice cream. Drizzle dark chocolate shavings and serve! Perfect with a dessert wine.

I’ve used oranges + cinnamon as another option with orange liqueur!

I also like to serve my poached pears with the 7-egg sponge cake – you can find the recipe in my archives (11/18/09)! .

a presto,

maria !

10-10-10 @ 10am

A friend of mine organized a reunion of friends at La Solaia e Nardone, in Tuscany. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a relaxing hike overlooking Val di Chiano, a tiny village with breathtaking landscape. The food is another story……

During our luncheon on 10-10-10, our meal started with an appetizer that was the best I have ever eaten. It was a combination of mascapone cheese and truffles = flavours of the Gods…..

I look forward to taking this combination back to NY and sharing with my friends and family. Not to mention, the Chianti wine was outstanding and yes indeed, we had plenty.

I am now in Florence getting ready for a wine tour and interview with local TV.

a presto,

maria