Recipe Sweet & Savoury Red Wine Pears in a Ham & Puff Pastry Crust

MypinchofItaly

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Pears.jpg


A title a little long to present this recipe that I don't know yet whether to classify as starters or desserts.
In any case, here it is:

Serves: 2 | Preparation time: 20 mins | Cooking time: 1 h

  • Ready rolled puff pastry: 320 g (about 1 standard-sized roll)
  • Ham, thinly-sliced: 100 g
  • Dolcetto d’Alba or Bonarda or any light, dry red wine: 500 ml
  • Cinnamon sticks: 2
  • Conference pears: 2
  • Cloves: 2
  • Eggs: 1
  • Star anise fruits: 1
  • Bay leaves: 1
  • Honey or Maple syrup: 2 tbsp
Method

Peel the pears, rinse them under cold running water and dry them thoroughly with a clean kitchen cloth.

Place the pears in a pot and pour in the wine. Make sure that the wine covers the pears completely.

Add the spices and the honey to the wine, then leave it to simmer over medium to low heat for about 30 minutes. The wine will thicken up in a sort of syrup.

Beat up the eggs in a small bowl and add a tablespoon or two or water. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface and cut it into strings about 1 cm wide. Cut the ham slices in strings of the same size and place a string of ham over each puff pastry string. Press down on the ham with your fingers to ensure it adheres well to the puff pastry.

wrapped pears.jpg


Remove the pears from the pot and let them cool down for a few minutes. Filter the wine syrup and set it aside.

Wrap each pear with a few of the ham and puff pastry strings you just prepared. Be careful to place the ham side of the string into contact with the pear and to leave the puff pastry side facing outwards; this way the ham will not burn when you bake the pears. Use a kitchen brush to spread the egg and water mixture over the puff pastry.

Bake the pears at 180°C for 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve warm, with some wine syrup on the side.
 
MypinchofItaly, I asked this question in the media section but am not sure if it should be here.

Does it matter what kind of pears are used? I just checked my local grocery store and they don't sell them. Would Barletts work?

By the way, that photo is gorgeous. I can almost taste this through the screen. ;-0
 
MypinchofItaly, I asked this question in the media section but am not sure if it should be here.

Does it matter what kind of pears are used? I just checked my local grocery store and they don't sell them. Would Barletts work?

By the way, that photo is gorgeous. I can almost taste this through the screen. ;-0

😂 Thank you so much 🙂
I’ve just checked Barletts pears and they are also known as Williams or common pears, so yes, absolutely they work fine for baking as well thus go for them 👍
 
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