Pears Poached in Zinfandel, Anise, Cinnamon, Cherries & Chili

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut the pears in half vertically and scoop out the center core and seeds to make a well in the middle.

Pour the wine into an oven proof baking dish. Add cinnamon, star anise, Szechuan pepper, palm sugar and dried cherries. Mix to combine. Don’t worry if the sugar does not dissolve completely. It will when baking.

Place the pear halves, skin side down, into the baking dish.

Place in the oven and bake 40-45 minutes or until pears are fork tender, but not mushy.

While the pears are baking prepare the ganache. Place the chocolate in a small but heavy saucepan and melt over medium low heat. Once the chocolate has melted use a wooden spoon to mix the heavy cream into the chocolate, 1 tablespoon at a time. This will only take about 3-4 minutes so if serving immediately do this during the final 5 minutes of baking the pears. You can also prepare this ahead of time, as I did, and simply reheat the ganache over a low flame until melted.

To assemble the pears place one half of a pear in each bowl, ladle a bit of the cooking juices over the pear, add a dollop of chocolate ganache into the well in the pear, sprinkle with a small handful of pine nuts and top with a fresh blackberry.