Recipe: Roast Caramelized Pears

ROAST CARAMELIZED PEARS

"The success of desserts with pears depends largely on their quality and ripeness. For this recipe, Anjou or Bartlett pears are roasted at a high temperature for more than 1 hour, until their juices caramelize and turn a rich mahogany color. The juices are then diluted with a little Madeira wine, and the pears are served at room temperature with the Madeira juices."

4 Anjou or Bartlett pears with stems (about 2 pounds), all of equal ripeness
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Madeira wine

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Do not remove the stems from the pears, but peel them with a vegetable peeler. Then, using a melon baller, citrus spoon, or half-teaspoon measuring spoon, remove the seeds from each pear by digging them out from the base.

Melt the butter in a small gratin dish. Stir the lemon juice into the butter. Roll the pears in this mixture and sprinkle them with the sugar.

Stand the pears upright in the gratin dish, and place them in the preheated 425 degree F oven. Cook the pears for about 1 1/4 hours, basting them with their own cooking juices every 15 or 20 minutes, until they are nicely browned and tender when pierced with the point of a knife. The juices should be caramelized and a rich brown color at the end of the cooking; if they should begin to burn, prevent this by immediately adding 3 to 4 tablespoons of water to the gratin dish.

When the pears are tender, remove them from the oven. Add the Madeira to the dish, and stir well to combine it with the juices.

Cool the pears to room temperature. Serve them with the accumulated juices spooned over and around them.

Source: Jacques Pepin's Kitchen: Encore with Claudine by Jacques Pepin