Pickled Pear Recipe

Ingredients

20 conference pears
1lt white wine vinegar/ delicious cider vinegar
½lt water
500g caster sugar
3 star anise
1 large stick cinnamon, broken into three
1tbsp allspice berries
Zest of a lemon cut into curls with a potato peeler.
½tsp cloves
1dsp juniper berries
3 sprigs rosemary (optional – my rosemary died this summer so mine is rosemary free!)
You’ll Also Need:
2 x 1½lt Kilner jars or 5/6 500ml jars

Peel the pears and cut into thick slices.
In a large cast-iron or ceramic saucepan, place the water, vinegar, sugar, star anise, allspice berries, lemon zest, cloves and juniper berries. Bring to the boil, and add the pears then cover and simmer gently for about 10 – 15 mins (unless you have a temperamental Aga and then allow two perhaps three hours… until the pears are poached. Remove the pears and set aside.
Boil the poaching liquor for about 5 mins to intensify the flavours.
Meanwhile sterilise the jars. I pop them into the dishwasher but you can also boil them in a pan or place them in the oven to kill any bugs. Remember to remove the rubber rings first.
Pack each jar with the pear slices, divide the liquor and pour into each jar. Make sure each jar has an even distribution of spices.
Place a sprig of Rosemary into each jar ( if you haven’t been deserted by your favourite herb bush).
Seal tightly and store. They will be good to eat after a week and can be stored for up allegedly two months but they last for a super long time – we will be eating ours at Christmas.

Join me on Sunday morning on Instagram where I will brilliantly demonstrate how to make these beauties of tastebud delight.