Poached Pears from Paleo Comfort Foods

Big-O has been pestering me to make this recipe ever since we first received the Paleo Comfort Foods Cookbook in the mail. He’s never eaten poached pears before and he’s not particularly a fan of the fruit, so I was perplexed as to why he wanted to make this dessert so badly. When I pushed him for an answer he would just retort, “You told me we could make anything in this cookbook and I want to make this one.”

Little man, you’re just lucky I love you so much.

Here’s the original recipe (with my modifications in parentheses):

• 3 cups of fresh squeezed orange juice
• 3 cups water
• 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled
• 4 ripe but not mushy pears (I only had 3 pears)
• 5 whole cloves (I didn’t have any)
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• parchment paper cut to fit the saucepan you’re using
• zest of one orange (I didn’t have any)

Here’s how I made this dish:

The kids poured the juice, water, ginger, and cinnamon stick into a medium saucepan…

…while I peeled and cored the pears.

I used a melon baller to scoop out the core from the bottom of the pear…

…making sure the core and seeds were all removed.

We dunked the pears in the poaching liquid…

…topped the pot with a piece of parchment paper…

…and brought the liquid to a simmer. The pears poached in the liquid for about 30 minutes or until soft but not mushy.

I removed the pears with a slotted spoon…

…and brought the poaching liquid to a boil. Then, I turned down the heat so the liquid would simmer and reduce by half, or until it became syrupy.

I removed the cinnamon stick and ginger and poured the sauce over the pears. I stored the pears in the poaching liquid in the fridge and served them cold.

We offered the pears to our kids and their cousins for dessert and they LOVED them! Who knew kids would like poached pears?

Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my iPhone and iPad app, and in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2021).