#letslunch Chilled Poached Pear Soup

Poached Pear Soup with Bacon and Mint
Poached Pear Soup with Bacon and Mint

You ready?  Let’s lunch!

Looking for something delicious for lunch today?  How about

Chilled Poached Pear Soup

Ever since I tried pear soup at Trezo Vino in Overland Park, KS, I have wanted to make my own chilled pear soup.  The soup I had at Trezo Vino was good and it certainly sounded exotic.  Still, at the same time, it was something I thought I could make for myself at home.  And I could probably do it better than they could.

Not to toot my own horn, but I think I did a pretty good job!

Making Chilled Poached Pear Soup

This recipe is incredibly easy, but sadly, it’s a bit time consuming.  And by a bit, I mean it’s really time consuming, especially if you use Bartlett pears (which is all I could find in the store.)  Bartletts are really firm and crisp, which isn’t what you want in a soup so you’re going to have to spend a while poaching the pears to get them soft.

I really wanted a Bosch pear because they are a much, much softer.  If you can find them, use them, and cut the amount of wine in half, which will also cut the cooking time in half.

You will need:

  • 8 pears*, diced
  • 1 bottle sweet white wine
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 cup syrup from canned pears or grape juice
  • splash of lemon-lime soda
  • 8 mint leaves
  • (optional) 2 strips of bacon, crisped and diced

* You can leave the skin on the pears or peel them.  Peeling them is faster, but the color will be slightly more greenish.

Put the pears and wine in a soup pot and bring to a boil.  Once the wine is boiling, lower the heat to medium and gently poach the pears uncovered until the wine has almost completely evaporated. 

About ten minutes into the cooking process, test the wine for sweetness.  If the pears are not sweet enough, add the sugar in a tablespoon at a time.  You may not need it all, so add it and test for sweetness.

Once there is only about a tablespoon or two of wine left, put the pears and wine in a food processor and pulse 8-10 times.   Then turn the food processor on and slowly drizzle in the syrup until the soup has reached the consistency you want.

Chill in the refrigerator.  Right before serving, add a splash of lemon-lime soda, top with mint and the optional bacon.

Grab a spoon and enjoy!

7 Comments

    • @Danielle Thanks. Like I said, I wanted to do this recipe because it sounded so glamorous that I wanted to serve it from home. The mint was a VERY nice touch and the crispy bacon was a great texture contrast.

      @Cathy I failed at not eating the ingredients. I eat several strips of bacon before the soup was done. In retrospect, I should have done hot bacon on top of cold soup. Next time!

      @Cheryl Thanks! I love Let’s Lunch! And this time I got my article done in time for lunch!

      @Chowgirl Chef… As near as I can tell, bacon makes everything better.

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