Poached Pear with Chocolate & Blue Cheese Sauce

Cook Time 40 minutes

Servings 2

Ingredients

Poached Pears
2 firm pears
1L sweet white wine
150g caster sugar
1 sprig of rosemary
½ lemon, juiced

Chocolate & Blue Cheese Sauce
80g dark chocolate
120ml double cream
25g blue cheese

Sugar Pistachios
80g pistachios
20g sugar

Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Soak the pistachios in water for 10 minutes. While the pistachios soak, prepare the pears. 

In a large saucepan, combine white wine, caster sugar, rosemary and lemon juice and bring to the boil. Peel and core pears, leaving stems intact. Once the liquid has come to a boil, add pears and cover the surface of the liquid with a cartouche - a disk of greaseproof paper. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20-25 mins, until pears are tender but still holding their shape. Remove from saucepan and allow to cool.

When the pistachios have completed soaking, drain well. In a bowl, combine pistachos with sugar, mixing well so that they are coated evenly. Place pistachios on a lined baking tray and bake in the oven until sugar has dissolved, approximately 15 minutes.

Combine chocolate, cream and blue cheese in heatproof bowl. Melt in double boiler and stir to combine. Allow to cool slightly. 

Scatter some sugar pistachios over a serving plate, then place pear, standing upright on top. Spoon the chocolate sauce over the pear. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish with rosemary.