Dinner Party Dessert

Here's a great dessert that can be prepped the day before your dinner party!

Red Wine Poached Pears with Vanilla Mascarpone and Candied Pistachios

Ingredients:
For the Pears:

½ bottle of red wine
1 cup orange juice
¼ cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
5 black peppercorns
4 firm pears

For the Candied Pistachios:

Butter
Brown sugar
Salt
Pistachios

Marscarpone
Vanilla bean

Directions:
In a medium pot, bring the wine, orange juice, sugar, cinnamon and cloves to a boil. While that is heating, peel the pears leaving the stem in tact. Lower the liquid to a simmer and drop in the pears. Simmer for 20 minutes, making sure to rotate the pears so the color is dispersed evenly. Remove from the heat and let the pears cool in the cooking liquid to room temperature.

To serve, remove the pears from the liquid, slice in half, top with a dollop of mascarpone and some pistachios.

*Note: The poaching liquid may also be reduced down to a syrup by boiling it until it coats the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. This can be used with the pears or as a delicious condiment for pancakes!

Serves 4