Star anise and ginger give a refreshing twist to this traditional recipe for poached pears. Serve slightly chilled, with soya yogurt.
 

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
75g/30z/6 tbsp caster sugar 300ml/ ½ pint/1¼ cups white dessert wine
thinly pared rind and juice of 1 lemon
7.5cm/3in piece of fresh root ginger, bruised
5 star anise
10 cloves
600ml/1 pint/2 ½ cups water
6 slightly unripe pears
25g/1oz/3 tbsp drained, stem ginger in syrup,
sliced thick soya yogurt,

To Serve:
1. Place the caster sugar, dessert wine, lemon rind and juice, fresh root ginger, star anise, cloves and water into a saucepan just large enough to hold the pears snugly in an upright position. Bring to the boil.
2. Meanwhile, peel the pears, leaving the stems intact. Add them to the wine mixture, making sure that they are totally immersed in the liquid.
3. Return the wine mixture to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the pears are tender. Lift out the pears with a slotted spoon and place them in a heatproof dish. Boil the wine syrup rapidly until it is reduced by about half, then pour over the pears. Allow them to cool, then chill.
4. Cut the pears into thick slices and arrange these on four serving plates. Remove the ginger and whole spices from the wine sauce, stir in the preserved ginger and spoon the sauce over the pears. Serve with soya yogurt.

Nutritional Information (Per portion):
Energy 190kcals/807kj
Protein 0.9g
Fat 0.3g
Saturated Fat 0.0g
Carbohydrate 45.2g
Fibre 5.3g
Iron 0.7mg
Calcium 32mg