Amaretto Poached Pears
I grew up spoiled. Not in the bratty, get whatever I wanted kind of way, though. I grew up spending much of my time during the summer on my grandad's orchard, shovelling fistfuls of freshly picked fruit into my never satisfied mouth. I say I was spoilt because for years after (even to this day, although I'd rather if that was kept a secret) I've had a hard time eating certain fruit. Does that make me a fruit snob? It's just that when you've bitten into an apple just picked from the tree, the juice squirts onto your hand. And when you pull off a pear from a tree and take your first bite, it is both firm and soft, never mushy or gritty like so many store-bought pears. While I'll buy both apples and pears from the market now, they're just not quite the same.
Luckily for me I have fantastic friends. Friends who visit the Okanagan (aka Canada's orchard and wine country) and think of me while there. Last week my friend Salvi brought me a bag of pears he had just picked off the tree himself. I was cooking him dinner, or rather heating up the previous night's leftovers, when he presented me with this gift. At that moment I wished I had put a little more effort into dinner!
I've never cooked with pears before, but I was given specific instructions by my lovely Spanish friend to make ‘a special dessert.' Stuffed from Thanksgiving and all the heavy pies and cakes, I decided to lighten things up. These amaretto poached pears are warm and soft and smelled lightly of almonds. They are sweet, a little too sweet with the syrup, but I'll change that next time. While I ate mine sitting on the couch in front of my laptop, they wouldn't look at all out of place at the end of a lavish dinner party.
Having no idea how to make these, and not finding much help on the internet, the result was good. Great even. But not perfect. I added a half cup of brown sugar and a cup of water. Next time I'll eliminate the water and reduce the sugar to 2 tablespoons. The recipe I've posted bellow is how I will make the recipe next time around.
Amaretto Poached Pears
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 4 pears, peeled and cores removed
- 1 cup Amaretto
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- Optional: whipped cream or mascarpone , to serve
Instructions
- Peel the pears and gently remove core from bottom with a paring knife and a small spoon.4 pears
- Bring the Amaretto and brown sugar to a boil in a pot just big enough to fit the pears.1 cup Amaretto, 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- Add pears and cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes. Turn pears every few minutes to ensure all sides of the pears absorb some of the Amaretto flavor. Remove pears and set them aside.
- Continue to simmer the Amaretto sugar mixture until it is reduced to ⅓ cup.
- To serve, stand a pear in the middle of a plate. Drizzle with reduced Amaretto sauce over the top and add a dollop of whipped cream or mascarpone cheese beside the pear.Optional: whipped cream or mascarpone
These turned out perfect. The amaretto was such a nice touch. Thank you!
Made this last night and it was a great hit! I’ve put the recipe in my keeper file under fancy. Pretty much followed the recipe exactly except that I cut the 2 T brown sugar down to 1 T.
I found the most beautiful comice pears at my farmers market last week and let them ripen on my window sill. They were very sweet and just oozing juice but still picturesque and stood up straight. My experience is good fruit can be found but not neccessarily in the stage of ripeness that you want-so plan ahead.
The person who washed the pans, an abstainer who hates all liquor, enjoyed it so much that she licked the sauce pan. It made us roll on the floor. Thanks for the experience.
rachel
That’s such a great story! So happy everyone, including the least likely person, loved them!!
I did not have quirt enough Amaretto so I filled the cup with Kahlua figuring it would be sweet enough did not add any sugar and then added a table spoon of Balsamic Vinegar before the reduction stage. Mascarpone cheese would be my choice but lacking any tonight used a little ice-cream.
Thanks for the inspiration.
gail
That sounds like a great combination! I love how a recipe starts off one way and changes and grows as along the way. Your version sounds super delicious 🙂
Wow, definitely going to try this recipe and hearing your story reminded me of being a kid again and enjoying fruit straight from the trees and everything seemed sweeter and juicier from that time … guess that makes me a fruit snob too 🙂
thanks for sharing your story and recipe … I look forward to more!
At least I’m not alone in my fruit snobbery!
mmmm. love Amaretto. think i will def. have to try this. great picture btw!
Thanks, Alisa. Let me know if you like them after you make them!
Pears with chocolate sauce sounds fab too! I’ll definitely have to try that one next time 🙂
Pear and amaretto sounds like an amazing combination and the perfect way to jazz up pears that perhaps aren’t at their best eaten raw. Definitely going to try this as an alternative to my other favourite, pears with chocolate sauce.
What a wonderful way to enjoy, sweet succulent BC pears! Thank you, for sharing such a delightful recipe!! So, going to try making this recipe!!
You’re welcome, Mark! Good luck with the pears. Let me know how you like them 🙂
I LOVE pears and share your taste for hand-picked fruit. I recently purchased what looked like some yummy red pears – only to discover that they were completely unripe and hard as a rock on the inside. Bleh. What a turn off! Same thing often for other fruits like Kiwi. The old saying “one rotten apple spoils the barrel” extends for me to “one under-ripe/over-ripe piece of fruit turns me off of that fruit for a long time!”.
Hi Dean,
I know what you mean, sometimes it is hard to get the memories of bad food out of your mind. I hope you try this recipe once those red pears of yours ripen. If you do, let me know how they turn out!
Absolutely delicious .. Again fabulous description.Can not wait to try one of this!!!..;). Next time wil give u some tips of my mom’s pears with red wine..;)
Hi Indi,
I’d love to hear about your mom’s pears with red wine. They sound delicious!