A perfect pear

Late-harvest pears, dried fruit come together in a sweet dessert

Green Anjou pears have a firm texture and a bright, almost lemony flavor.
Green Anjou pears have a firm texture and a bright, almost lemony flavor.

As spring arrives, there are so many good reasons for food lovers everywhere to rejoice. Yet often, the last thing you want to do when the days are suddenly longer, brighter and warmer is to spend time in the kitchen when you have fun things waiting to be done outside, from playing with your family and friends to going for a walk to working in your garden.

My favorite activity right now, not surprisingly, is to visit the farmers market to see what wonderful produce the season has to offer. And one of the items I enjoy the most right now is a fruit that many people associate with just autumn and winter: pears.

Yes, the plump, juicy, sweet and aromatic tree fruit most often graces our tables during the holidays. But you can still find some excellent varieties for sale well into springtime, particularly elongated, brown-skinned Bosc pears, with their good strong pear flavor and an almost crunchy texture that makes them an excellent candidate for cooking, as well as eating raw. You’ll also find both green-skinned and red-skinned Anjou pears, which are plumper in shape, with a firm texture and a flavor that ranges from bright and almost lemony for the green variety to the slightly spicier red ones.

That’s why I’d like to share one of my favorite simple recipes featuring pears. This home-style compote highlights the fruit’s distinctive character by briefly cooking it with tart dried cherries, fruity German- or Austrian-style white wine, a little lemon juice and a fresh vanilla bean.

The recipe takes almost no time for you to prepare. All you have to do is spend a few minutes quartering, peeling and coring the pears; then combine them with the other ingredients to marinate for an hour while you go do something else. Lastly, you cook the pears for just 15 minutes before letting them cool to room temperature for serving.

Simplicity also rules in the way you serve them. Just spoon a few pear quarters, cherries and the cooking juices into serving bowls, garnish with mint, and you’re ready to enjoy a treat that tastes as fresh as springtime — and would make a perfect addition to your holiday table for Easter or Passover.

You’ll also notice, by the way, that the recipe doesn’t include even a spoonful of added sugar. That’s because the pears and the wine in which they are briefly poached provide enough sweetness on their own, making this an especially healthy dessert to enjoy at just around the time you might be thinking about fitting into your swimsuit. After all, we’re only three months away.

Pear and Dried Sour Cherry Compote

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients:

8 large firm, but ripe, Bosc or Anjou pears, peeled

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup dried sour cherries

1/2 vanilla bean

2 cups fruity, aromatic white wine such as gewurztraminer or riesling

8 to 10 small sprigs fresh mint

Directions:

With a small, sharp knife, cut each pear lengthwise in half; then remove the stem and core. Cut the halves in two and put the quarters in a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle the lemon juice, and toss well to coat the pears.

Loosely arrange the pear quarters in a single layer in a nonreactive 12-inch skillet. Scatter in the dried cherries.

With the small, sharp knife, cut the piece of vanilla bean lengthwise in half. With the back edge of the knife blade, carefully scrape the tiny vanilla seeds from the middle of each half. Put the seeds and the bean halves in the pan with the pears. Pour the wine over the pears, cover the skillet, and leave the pears at room temperature to marinate for about 1 hour.

Leaving the pears covered, transfer the skillet to the stove over medium heat. When the wine is almost at a boil, reduce the heat to very low and cook until the pears are barely tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a sharp knife, about 15 minutes depending on ripeness.

Transfer the pears and their liquid from the skillet to a heatproof bowl and leave to cool. Serve at room temperature, arranging 3 or 4 pear quarters in each serving bowl, then spooning the cherries and sauce over the pears. Garnish each serving with a mint sprig.

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