Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Filling

Recipe courtesy Michael Chiarello

Show: Easy Entertaining with Michael ChiarelloEpisode: Fireplace Cooking

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (36)

Cook Time:
45 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
6 servings

Times:

Prep: 15 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 45 min
Total:: 1 hr 0 min

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Ingredients

6 firm Bartlett pears
1 bottle red wine
1 vanilla bean, whole
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
2 cups sugar
2 (8 ounce) containers mascarpone cheese, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
Pinch cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Peel pears and leave stem intact. In a large saucepan, bring wine and an equal amount of cold water to a simmer. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and add to wine and water mixture. Add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and sugar, to taste. Add pears to liquid and simmer for about 20 minutes or until tender. Cool pears in wine mixture to room temperature. You can refrigerate them in the poaching liquid until you're ready to fill them.

Remove stems from pears and set stems aside. Core pears with an apple corer, leaving pear whole.

Whisk together mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, pinch cinnamon and powdered sugar until smooth. Transfer to a pastry bag, or if you do not have one, use wax paper tightly wrapped into a cone with the corner snipped off. Pipe filling into cored pears and finish by putting the stems gently into the mascarpone filling on top of the pears.

Bring sauce up to a simmer and reduce by half. Add butter to reduced sauce and stir until combined. Spoon generously over pears. Cool to room temperature before serving.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Filling
joy laguna beach, CA 02-04-2010
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beautiful in winter
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I have made this dessert several times and always to raves.....simplicity and elegance for the holidays or just a lovely ... ending to a nice dinner.....I cut the wine/water/sugar in half and still have plenty of the sauce. I also cut the pears in half and scoop out center with a melon baller. It's wonderful to have an easy, very dramatic dessert that is NOT work intensive. If you love pears, you will love this!Read more
recipe Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Filling
Lisa Scarsdale, NY 01-17-2010
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Delicious AND Elegant!!!!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Blew family and friends away with this one. Topped with chocolate ganache. Our family regular for special occassions.
recipe Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Filling
Denise Seattle, WA 10-05-2009
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Always gets rave reviews...
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I've been making this recipe for a few years now, and have always gotten rave reviews. To really dress it up for holidays, I... make some chocolate leaves and tuck one in with the stem. Sometimes I brush the leaves with gold or silver luster dust. I've also made it into a tart...blind bake a tart shell, put the mascarpone cream in the bottom, slice the poached pears and arrange in a spiral pattern on top of the cream, brush on the syrup, and top with a sprinkling of chopped pistachios. Serve with a pitcher of extra sauce on the side. To die for!Read more
recipe Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Filling
Judy Falls Church, VA 08-10-2009
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Hit at the Dinner Party
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

In addition to the vanilla extract and cinnamon sticks, I added a star anise, cardamon, and two cloves to the simmering wine.... I also used a filling of mascarpone and confectioner's sugar on the side of the dish because I didn't have an apple corer or heavy cream. Everyone loved the dish, I was the only one with complaints (though they aren't really complaints, just improvements). My thought that the wine flavor was too subtle and the sauce tasted too much like a fruit sauce than a wine sauce. It tasted great while cooking but got too sweet as it reduced. Next time I'll just cook the pears in a bottle of wine and 1/2 cup of water and cut amount of sugar by half or so.Read more
recipe Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Filling
Sharon Encino, CA 04-13-2009
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Easy and delicious!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I made these pears for dessert after Easter dinner and they were a hit. I cut the pears in half lengthwise and scooped out... the center with a melon baller. I served half a pear to each person in a pool of broth with the marscarpone mixture piped into the middle and a sprinkle of toasted walnuts over the top. Delicious!Read more
recipe Red Wine Poached Pears with Mascarpone Filling
SANDRA new york, NY 01-31-2009
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Sandra, Montreal
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Delicious and impressive! I doubled the pears but left the same quantity of wine and spices (only added a few cloves) and it... was enough. There was a lot of sauce at the end. The amount of mascarpone was more than sufficient even for 12 pears so I served a scoop or even two on the side. My guests loved it! Will make it over and over again.Read more