Red Wine and Pear Sorbet

I made this a while ago before this blog was born and really liked it so when my stash of pears from Boston Organics started building up, I thought it was high time to make this again. The original recipe from Martha Stewart has directions for how to make this without an ice cream maker, but seeing as how I have one, it seemed silly not to use it.

Red Wine and Pear Sorbet (adapted from Everyday Food)
makes about 1 quart

1 cup dry red wine

3/4 cup sugar

1 pound ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces (2 cups)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Coarse salt

In a medium saucepan, bring wine, 1 1/4 cups water, and sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring often, until sugar dissolves. Add pears; reduce heat, and simmer until tender.

Stir in lemon juice and a pinch of salt; cool completely. Transfer to a blender or use an immersion blender to puree the mixture. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Once chilled, churn in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions. Transfer to a container, cover, and freeze overnight or for several hours to harden.

Although the original recipe said it would only take 5-10 minutes, I ended up having to cook the pears for over 20 minutes before they were tender. This may have been because I used one Bartlett pear and one green pear instead of just Bartlett pears like the original recipe said. Because I was cooking the mixture for that long, I figured I would have boiled off most of the alcohol, but there was still enough left to make this a pretty soft sorbet. It's also kind of gritty in the way that pears are naturally gritty. Not a bad thing, but if you don't like the texture of pears, you might want to pass on this recipe. But if you like poached pears, you definitely need to try this out. It tastes elegant and sophisticated, like something that should be served in a goblet vs. a normal dessert bowl. I would totally serve this as a palate cleanser or at the end of a heavy dinner of say, steak.