Key Recipe - poached pears and earl grey tea

Earl Grey Poached Pears

You can make this ahead of time for a dinner party and either gently heat the pears in the pan before serving or serve the pears cold but heat the juice before pouring it over the pears. In fact, the longer the pears are poached in the juices, the more flavour they absorb. You can also keep your poached pears in their juice in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 50g clear honey (2-3 tbsp)
• 4 strips orange zest (just use a peeler)
• 450ml strong Earl Grey tea (1⅔ cup)
• 1 vanilla pod (or ½ tsp vanilla paste or extract)
• 4 pears (slightly under ripe), peeled, cored and halved
• 40g walnuts (½ a cup)
• Yoghurt of your choice, to serve (2-3 tbsp)

Instructions

In a large lidded saucepan or sauté pan, big enough to hold the pears in one layer, add the honey, orange zest and tea. Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and pod to the saucepan (or add the vanilla paste or extract) and bring everything to a simmer over medium heat. Put the lid on the saucepan and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.

Spoon the pears into the pan and poach for 15-20 minutes with the lid on, turning halfway through, until tender. The poaching time will depend on the ripeness of your pears so just keep an eye on them, testing with the tip of a sharp knife every so often. Remove the pears with a slotted spoon then bring the poaching liquid back to the boil and simmer until reduced by half into a golden syrup.

Toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant and starting to brown. Leave to cool then roughly chop.

Plate the pears with the yoghurt and pour a little of the syrup over each pear. Finish with a scattering of chopped walnuts.