Six delicious ways to poach a pear

Many pears need a little help from aromatic herbs or spices to enhance their flavour, says Darina Allen. This recipe for poached pears infused in basil syrup is well worth a try – and I’ve also included lots of variations you can experiment with

once you’ve mastered the basic method. Serves 4 200g granulated sugar 450ml water 6-8 basil leaves 45ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 firm pears, such as Conference, Doyenne du Comice or Bartlett

• Put the sugar, water, basil and lemon juice into a 32.5cm stainless-steel sauté pan and stir over a gentle heat to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a simmer.

• Meanwhile, start on the pears. Peel, halve and core the pears, and as you finish each one pop it into the simmering syrup, cutside uppermost.

• Cover the surface of the pan with a paper lid and then the lid of the pan, and cook gently for 20-30 minutes, spooning the syrup over the pears every now and then.

• Plate the pears, then pour the syrup over them and set aside to cool. Serve chilled. The poached pears will keep for several weeks, covered, in the fridge.

• Once you’ve got the hang of it, you can try the following delicious variations:

Poached pears with saffron syrup

Replace the basil with six lightly crushed whole cardamom pods and a quarter of a teaspoon of good-quality saffron threads.

Lemon poached pears

Replace the basil with the thinly pared rind and juice of one Amalfi lemon.

Sweet geranium poached pears

Replace the basil with 3-4 large sweet geranium leaves (pelargonium graveolens).

Lemon verbena poached pears

Replace the basil with 4-6 lemon verbena leaves.

Ginger poached pears

Replace the basil with a 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, cut into thin slivers.

Taken from One Pot Feeds All by Darina Allen, published by Kyle Books at £20.

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