CookEat Recipe
Pear Compote II
Carefully blanched and peeled pears finished in lemon syrup and served cold.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 600 g firm, slightly underripe small pears; 120 g caster sugar; 400 ml water for the syrup; Half a lemon; Additional water for blanching and cooling.
Step 2
Squeeze the half lemon into the measured 400 ml water and set aside. Put the washed, unpeeled pears in another saucepan, cover with plain water and boil for 4–5 minutes. Transfer them to cold water to cool enough to handle.
Step 3
Peel the pears, trim each stem to about half its length, and put them immediately into the prepared lemon water. If using large pears, cut into wedges and remove the cores after the initial blanching.
Step 4
Lift out the pears. Strain the same lemon water into a snug saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the sugar and boil for about 3–5 minutes before adding the pears. Simmer gently for about 10–25 minutes until tender, keeping them intact.
Step 5
Lift and drain the pears into a serving bowl. Boil the remaining syrup for about 5–10 minutes until lightly thickened, then strain it a second time over the pears. Cool and refrigerate within 2 hours; chill until cold, about 2 hours, before serving. Keep at 4°C or colder and use within 3 days.
Step 6
Red-wine variation: use the same 600 g pears and 120 g sugar, with about 400 ml red wine and a 2 cm piece of cinnamon stick instead of the lemon and measured syrup water. Peel the pears, retaining small ones whole or coring and wedging large ones. Put them in a snug pan with the wine, sugar and cinnamon, bring gently to a simmer and cook for about 20–35 minutes until tender. Lift out the fruit, remove the cinnamon, reduce the liquid for 5–10 minutes until lightly syrupy, and pour over the pears. Cool and chill with the same storage limits. The wine version is not alcohol-free.
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