Riesling Baked Pears

So yummy. Pears oven baked and poached in a honey-wine sauce with cinnamon and orange flavors infused. The first time DH and I had this for dessert we were simply astounded at how these simple flavors combined to make such a rich and flavorful treat.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4  ripe pears, washed and dried (preferably Bosc with stems still attached)
• 2  cups riesling wine or 2  cups  other fruity wine
• 1⁄4 cup honey
• 4  cinnamon sticks
• 4  bay leaves
• 4  slices orange zest

Directions

1. Tip: For the orange zest, scrub the orange first and then use a vegetable peeler to remove the strips of zest. Make sure to leave behind the bitter, white pith.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice a thin piece off the bottom of each pear so that it will sit flat, standing up straight.
3. Arrange the pears in a pie pan or oven-proof small casserole dish.
4. Whisk wine and honey in a medium bowl until blended. (I usually have to microwave mine to make the honey melt a bit so that they will combine.).
5. Pour honey-wine mixture over pears and add cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and orange zest to the liquid.
6. Roast the pears, basting every 15 minutes, until they are tender and a bit wrinkled (about 45 minutes to 1 hour).
7. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears to serving dishes. Put the honey-wine mixture into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until slightly thickened, about 6 minutes. Drizzle over pears and garnish with cinnamon sticks and orange zest.
8. Serve warm, at room temp, or chilled.
9. Note: We sometimes put a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on this. Very rich and yummy. Another option: try cheese, such as ricotta or mascarpone -- sweeten cheese and stir it first.