Pears and rosemary

Laurie Black mentioned recently that she has been poaching pears with rosemary to serve with cheese. Such a delicious winter idea. Here’s her recipe.

A little bit of gentle poaching in a not-so-sweet liquid means pears are lovely for dessert with good yoghurt, but even better drained, patted dry and served with cheese, as an alternative to fruit paste.

Ingredients

2	Pears, ripe but not super soft (Main)
⅓ cup	Caster sugar
2 cups	Water
1 piece	Fresh rosemary, 3cm, leaves only
1	Lemon, use three strips of peel, use a vegetable peeler

Directions

1. Peel the pears, halve them and neatly remove each fibrous strip and core using a small sharp knife.
2. Dissolve the sugar in the water in a small saucepan over a low heat. Next add the rosemary leaves and lemon peel, and bring to a low simmer. Gently add the pear halves, all face down. Cover and barely simmer for 5 minutes. Carefully turn the pears over and cover and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes until tender but not collapsing.
3. Allow pears to cool in syrup before refrigerating. Will keep in fridge for 5 days.