Baked Marsala Pears
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Baked Marsala Pears
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If you can’t find Marsala, Madeira makes a decent substitute, or sherry. I use dry marsala, although you can use sweet or dry. Bosc or Conference pears are good for baking as they hold their shape. Other pears that are firm when ripe are Winter Nellis, Seckel (figure two per person), Anjou, and Butter pears.
As mentioned, unlike other fruits, pears are better ripened off the tree so they’re usually sold unripe. Let them sit out at room temperature until they feel slightly soft at the stem end, where they begin to bulge. A ripe pear will often smell sweet at the blossom end, when you sniff it, too.
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Ingredients
Baked Pears
- 8 firm ripe pears (see headnote for varieties)
- 1 cup (250ml) sweet or dry marsala
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
Marsala Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups (375ml) marsala
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/2 cup (130g) plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
- Trim a disk off the bottom of each pear, providing a flat bottom so you can stand the pears up in a baking dish. Fit the pears in a baking dish that’s big enough to hold them all, without a great deal of room around them.
- Pour the marsala over the pears, then drizzle the honey over them. Sprinkle the sugar over the pears.
- Baking the pears, basting them frequently with the liquid (I use a turkey baster, although a soup spoon will work) as they cook. I usually baste them more frequently closer to the end of the cooking time, when the sauce thickens to a syrup.
- Cook the pears until a paring knife inserted into one meets no resistance, meaning the pears are cooked through. They should take between 50 and 60 minutes to cook, although because fruit can vary (due to variety and ripeness), check them before the recommended time. And if necessary, they may take longer.
- Remove from oven and continue to baste the pears, as they cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Although cooking the pears this way provides some sauce, if you want extra (especially if you are serving them with ice cream), you can use this recipe to make more: Mix a few tablespoons of the marsala with the corn starch in a saucepan, stirring until the corn starch is completely dissolved. Whisk in the sugar, then the rest of the marsala. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently with the whisk. When the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring constantly with the whisk, until it noticeably thickens to the consistency of warmed maple syrup. Remove from heat. The sauce will thicken more as it cools. (The sauce can be made up to one week ahead and refrigerated.)
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