This Love
She Will Be Loved
Sunday Morning
Secret
Through With You
Sweetest Goodbye
This is the third part to the blog about the lunch I served friends, R & H, when they came to visit. I wanted a light dessert with it being lunchtime but still wanted it to feel special. I found this recipe when I was flicking through the pages of Vegan Italiano
by Donna Klein looking for a main course. This recipe seemed to bring everything I was looking for to the table. I'm usually not interested in poached pears as I've had to suffer many undercooked ones. I remember with great fondness an evening meal shared with friends with Red Wine Poached Pears that My Love had cooked and our shrieks of laughter as we all had to resort to cutting slices off with knives...thankfully My Love started the laughter and wasn't reduced to tears. lol. Anyway....This recipe seemed to have that 'something' more to it then simply poaching. And I was able to prepare it the evening before and leave it tightly covered in the fridge to place in the oven before we sat down to eat the main course of our lunch. Easy!
The result was a beautifully cooked, aromatic and delicious pear with a sweet drizzle and I served it with a vanilla yoghurt which complemented it very well. My only issue with this recipe was with the currants but that is purely personal as I'm not the biggest fan but no one else seemed to share this..lol. I would perhaps try some succulent golden raisins next time?
Baked Pears with Currants and Cinnamon
(Recipe from Vegan Italiano by Donna Klein)
1/3 cup golden caster sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup currants
4 ripe yet firm dessert pears, unpeeled, halved and cored
1/3 cup water
Pre-heat the oven to 350'F/180'C/Gas Mark 4.
Place the pear halves in a large baking dish that will hold them in one layer and set to one side.
In a bowl combine the sugars and the cinnamon and stir until combined. Stir in the currants and again stir to combine. Fill the cavities in the cored pears with approx half of the sugar mix.
Pour the water into the remaining sugar mix and stir to combine and then spoon it around the pears, (at this point you can cover tightly and store in the fridge over night until needed).
Place, uncovered, into the pre-heated oven and bake for 40 minutes or until the pears are cooked and a knife is easily inserted into the flesh. Serve hot or cold with the sauce from the baking dish drizzled over and vanilla yoghurt on the side.
Enjoy!
