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Vanilla poached pears and ginger crème fraiche

Vanilla poached pears and ginger crème fraiche

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This posh-sounding dish is actually really simple to make. Minimum effort with maximum effect - brilliant!

Cooking time: 25 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

Make sure you use slightly under-ripe pears: this will ensure they don't break up during cooking.

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300ml (½ pt) white wine
115g (4oz) caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split with a knife
2.5cm (1in) wide strip of lemon zest, and juice of 1 lemon
2.5cm (1in) piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
4 large, slightly under-ripe pears, such as Conference
1 piece preserved ginger in syrup, finely chopped
1tbsp preserved ginger syrup
115g (4oz) half fat crème fraiche
200g (7oz) fresh raspberries

Method

Simmer the white wine with the sugar, vanilla pod, lemon zest, fresh ginger and 100ml (3½ fl oz) water in a large pan for 5 mins. Meanwhile, peel and core the pears, rubbing with lemon juice to prevent them from going brown. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each pear so that they'll stand up on a plate.
Add the pears to the pan and poach at a gentle simmer, for 15 mins or until just tender. Remove the pears, ginger, lemon and vanilla pod with a slotted spoon. Scrape the vanilla seeds in the pod back into the pan and boil the liquid for a few mins or until syrupy and reduced by half in volume. Allow to cool slightly.
Mix together the preserved ginger, ginger syrup and crème fraiche. Serve each pear with syrup poured over, and a side helping of ginger crème fraiche and raspberries.

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Nutritional information per portion

Calories 325(kcal)
Fat 4.5g

This nutritional information is only a guide and is based on 2,000 calories per day. For more information on eating a healthy diet, please visit the Food Standards Agency website.

Guideline Daily Amount for 2,000 calories per day are: 70g fat, 20g saturated fat, 90g sugar, 6g salt.