Poached Pear with Hazelnut Butter
This is a great autumnal recipe for brunch or dessert! Perfectly poached pear, and the satisfaction of a homemade nut butter.
SERVES 4
Ingredients:
- 7 fl. oz. white wine
- 10 fl. oz. water
- 7 oz. golden caster sugar
- Pared zest of 1 lemon
- 2 conference pears, peeled, halved and cored (NOTE: If conference pears are not available in your area, the Concorde pear is similar.)
- 7 oz. blanched hazelnuts
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- Flaky sea salt
- 4 thin slices of sourdough
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Instructions:
- Combine the wine, water, caster sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan (big enough for the four pear halves). Set over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved, then add the pear halves so they are submerged in the liquid. Cover with a disc of baking parchment (and weigh down slightly with a smaller pan lid which will sit on the liquid surface, just above the pears). Simmer gently for 15 minutes, then leave to cool in their liquid.
- Pour 3½ fl. oz. of the poaching liquor into a small saucepan and return to a medium heat. Boil to reduce until you have just a third of the liquid remaining.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Toast the hazelnuts in the oven for 7–8 minutes until golden. Set 1 tbsp. of the nuts aside to be chopped, then transfer the rest straight into the small bowl of a food processor and blend until it has formed a paste (scraping down the sides intermittently to get any nuts that are escaping the blades). Add a good pinch of flaky sea salt and the cinnamon, and mix briefly to combine.
- Toast the sourdough then spread with the hazelnut spread. Slice the pear and fan across each toast slice, drizzling with a little of the reduced syrup and finish with a scattering of the chopped hazelnuts.
