Pear Paste

Pear Paste, pears cooked to a thick jelly and served as an appetizer with blue cheese and crackers.

5 from 27 votes

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Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 2 30

Total Time: 2 50

Servings: servings

Calories: 112kcal

Author: Pat Nyswonger

Ingredients

See Notes below:

4 large pears (about 3-¼pounds)
1-½ to 2 cups (300-400 grams) sugar this will vary according to the amount of pear puree
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons liquid pectin See Notes for substituting powdered pectin

Instructions

Wash and peel the pears, cut in half and remove the core and pit from each one and place in a large saucepan with enough water to cover them. Over medium-high heat, bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer and poach the pears until they are slightly softened.
Place the poached pears in a colander to drain and allow them to cool for 10 or 15 minutes. Add the cooled pears to your blender or food processor and puree them. Measure the pear puree and add to a heavy-bottomed wide skillet or dutch oven
For every 1 cup of puree you need to add ¾ cup of sugar. Add the lemon juice to the puree and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Boil for one minute, then reduce the heat to a simmer and add the liquid pectin. Continue simmering the mixture, string frequently. The mixture will gradually get to be very thick and turn a dark orangey color.
This will take about one-and-a-half to two hours and when you can pull a wooden spoon through it and it leaves an open streak on the bottom of the pan that takes a few seconds to fill in, remove it from the heat.
Pour the hot mixture into a prepared 13x9x½ size baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Smooth it out evenly in the pan and allow it to cool overnight. It should be about ¼-inch thick.
Divide the pan of pear paste into sections, do not remove the parchment paper, and stack each section into a storage container that has a lid.
Add a piece of parchment paper to the top and cover with the container lid. This will keep in the refrigerator for several months, very similar to a jar of jelly.
When ready to serve, remove as many sections as needed and cut into the shape/size of your crackers and serve with cheese.

Notes

Do not double the recipe for pear paste but make two separate batches
Liquid pectin and powdered pectin can be interchanged, however, the measurements are not the same. Using a conversion rate of 4 tsp. of powdered pectin for every 2 tbsp. of liquid pectin required.
Combine powder pectin with the fruit and juice at the beginning of the recipe but do not add the sugar at the same time. Bring fruit and pectin to full boil for 1 minute. Then add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Continue with recipe.