Poached amaretti pears, wrapped in filo pastry with a caramel sauce

Ingredients - serves 4

4 small firm pears

Poaching liquid Pastry

700ml water 450g package of filo pastry de-frosted in
225ml red wine the refrigerator overnight
115g granulated sugar 225ml melted unsalted butter
2 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick

Amaretti Filling Caramel Sauce

125g amaretti biscuits, crushed 250g double cream (& a little extra
(mix all the ingredients below cream to thin the sauce)
to form a firm paste) 250g sugar
125g ground almonds 150ml water
4 teaspoons sugar
4 teaspoons butter

Method Pre-heat oven 200°c/gas6

Choose firm pears that still have their stems attached. Peel the skin off with a vegetable peeler and cut a thin slice off the bottom to create a flat surface so that the pears will stand upright during poaching.
Combine the poaching ingredients together, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, remove from the heat and add the pears, return to the boil and then simmer for 10 minute. Remove the pears from the liquid so they don't continue to cook. When they have cooled completely, core the pears from the bottom & fill them with the amaretti filling, dry any excess
liquid from the pears.

To prepare the pastry - Allow 3 sheets of filo per pear, brush each sheet with melted butter, layering them on top of the next sheet, place 1 pear in the centre of each pastry square and pull the four corners up towards the top and pinch around the stem leaving as much stem exposed as possible. Bake the pears until golden brown, while the pears are baking prepare the caramel sauce.

Caramel Sauce

Bring the water and sugar to the boil and boil until a nice golden brown, remove from the heat and in another pan bring the cream to the boil and add this a little at a time to the caramel, whisk carefully and return to the heat until all the caramel has dissolved.

Presentation

Place pears in the centre of four plates and pour the caramel sauce over, serve with an ice-cream of your choice or clotted cream.

Chef's Tips

The pears can be prepared up to three days in advance. When adding the cream to the caramel be very careful as the mixture tends to splatter.