California Bartlett Pear Dessert Soup

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup port
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Zest from 1/2 navel orange
4 black peppercorns
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsps anise seed
6 medium, firm but ripe California Bartlett pears, peeled, halved, cored and quartered
12 gingersnap cookies

Directions

Combine all ingredients except the pears and gingersnaps in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add pear quarters and gently simmer until tender but not mushy (about 20 to 25 minutes). Remove from heat. With a slotted spoon, remove pears from liquid and set aside. Strain poaching liquid and throw spices away. Place the poaching liquid in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Continue boiling over medium heat until reduced by about 1/3. Pour liquid into a medium container and add pears. Set aside. When at room temperature, cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to one day.

About 1 hour before serving, remove from refrigerator. Remove pears with a slotted spoon and place in a food processor or blender (with a blender, you may have to work in batches). Pour approximately 1/2 cup of the poaching liquid into the pears. Puree until the pears are smooth, with no visible chunks. Add more poaching liquid until desired consistency is reached. Return to the refrigerator until chilled. Serve gingersnap cookies alongside soup or roughly crumble and sprinkle on top as a garnish.

Makes 6 servings

Nutrition Information

Nutrients per serving: calories 210.7; protein 1.2g; fat 1.9g; carbohydrate 46.1g; dietary fiber 4.3g; cholesterol 0mg; sodium 87.5mg