Red wine cooked pears with custard

Red wine cooked pears with custard are one of the best conclusions for an excellent dinner, beautiful to look at and very good .. They are a perfect match!

Ingredients

Wine cooked pears:

• 5/6 not too ripe pears
• 0.3 liters of red wine
• Cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of sugar

Custard:

• 0.5 liters of fresh whole milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 5 tablespoons of sugar
• 20 gr of cornstarch
• a cinnamon stick
• the peel of half a lemon

Wine reduction:

• wine left after cooking pears
• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch

How to get up

Peel the pears leaving the stem, remove the core from the base with a cradle lever or a pointed knife, being careful not to break the fruit.

Put the pears in a pan with the wine, the spoonful of sugar and the powdered cinnamon and cook for about half an hour, over medium heat and with the lid closed, turning the pears every so often, until they are softened (but not overdone) and with a nice red color over the entire surface. Once ready, remove them from the heat and set aside the left cooking wine to make the reduction after.

While the pears are cooking, you can prepare the custard: put the milk in a high-sided pan, heat it with the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel, altready cut into pieces, turn occasionally to prevent the film on the surface.

In a glass or metal bowl, place the 5 egg yolks, 5 tablespoons of sugar and 20 g of cornstarch and mix quickly by hand with a whisk or a wooden spoon (I prefer the whisk), without mounting too much. (NB. I do not recommend the use of a plastic bowl because this material captures the fats so it is difficult to clean and remains greasy).

Add the hot milk to the mixture by passing it with a sieve and stir quickly, then transfer the mixture to the pan where the milk had previously been heated (remove the cinnamon and lemon peel residues) and place on medium-low heat turning constantly and slowly , until the cream becomes thick and velvety.

Remove from the heat and continue to stir for a few minutes to prevent it from sticking to the still hot bottom and lumps forming, after which, if you used a steel pan, put it in the fridge, while, if you used a aluminum or copper pan first transfer to a glass or steel container (for example the one in which the eggs and sugar had previously been mixed).

To make the red wine reduction, dissolve a teaspoon of cornstarch in a small quantity of the wine (about half a cup), if it is already cold, otherwise in the same amount of cold water, then add it to the rest of the wine and light the fire to boil until it has not thickened (be careful not to boil it too much because it could burn and take a bitter taste).

Once all the parts are ready, take cups or bowls not too wide and put the crustard first, then a pear (if it is not soft enough to be cut with the spoon, cut it into slices, otherwise whole) and finally some drop of wine reduction and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now… enjoy!!