The Harvest Begins, and I Make Pear Butter

All my friends with vegetable gardens seem to be canning tomatoes or making zucchini bread or pickles. What I have at this time of year is an abundance of pears.

The pear tree in our backyard is producing a bounteous yield, and if past years are anything to go by, all the pears will ripen within the next two weeks. That means we’re picking as fast as we can, giving away bags of pears to all our friends and neighbors, and cooking ALL. THE. PEAR. THINGS.

These are Asian pears, or what some people call apple pears — crisp and lightly sweet. I put them in salads and of course, eat them whole. I slice and cook some of them to serve with pork, and I make a really killer pear crisp with oats, pecans, brown sugar, and lots of butter.

But the first thing I always make, when the pears are just a little underripe but we need to pick some in order to keep the branches from breaking under their weight, is pear butter.

Pear butter is a fruit spread or thick sauce; it has no butter in it, and I don’t know where the name came from. But just like citrus fruits turn into marmalade and berries become jam, pears or apples cooked down into a spread are called “butter.”

I love to spread it on buttered toast, but it’s also great mixed into plain yogurt or oatmeal, spooned over vanilla ice cream, served on top of brie, eaten with pork or lamb chops, or (I swear!) added to brussels sprouts with crisp-cooked pancetta.

Normally, the first step after picking the fruit is to peel, core, and slice it. That’s how I was told to do it, so that’s what I always did. The peeling and coring of 7-10 pounds of small pears normally takes me over an hour. But I recently read that some people don’t peel or even core their pears, claiming that the extra pectin in the peel and seeds helps it set better. I decided to try that, so I washed the pears, cut off any questionable bits, and rough-chopped them. I don’t weigh or measure my pear quantities, but fill my electric pressure cooker to about the max fill line.

I added the zest and juice of an orange and two small lemons (I normally use one lemon, but these were tiny). I think the citrus gives a brightness and complexity to the finished spread.

I also added cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Since I need to strain the cooked pears anyway to remove the peel and seeds, I used whole spices.

I added some sugar, set the pressure cooker to fifteen minutes, and when it was done, allowed the pressure to release naturally. (Those working on the stove instead of the pressure cooker would simmer in a pot for two hours or more with the lid on at this stage.) Although I added very little liquid, the pears always wind up floating in their own juice at this point. Most of this has to be cooked off.

If I had peeled the pears, at this point I would puree them with my immersion blender. Instead, I pushed the cooked pears through a mesh strainer to remove all the rough bits. I think this extra step was still less work than coring and peeling would have been. I put the resulting puree back in the pressure cooker and set it to simmer without the lid for about two hours, stirring occasionally.

After cooking off more than half its volume, it became thick, dark, and sticky. It is finished reducing when it mounds up on a spoon.

When fully cooked down, this batch made about 48 oz of pear butter. It stays good in the fridge for about a month or can be frozen for several months. You could certainly can it if canning is your jam.

Ingredients 7-10 pounds pears, washed, cleaned and rough-chopped juice and zest of one orange juice and zest of one lemon 1/2 vanilla bean, sliced open 1/2 cinnamon stick 1/2 nutmeg, sliced 2 1/2 cups sugar

Instructions Put chopped pears into the pressure cooker, to the max fill line. Add other ingredients. Close and lock the pressure cooker. Set the valve to Pressure. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes. If you peeled and cored the pears, use an immersion blender to puree. Otherwise, ladle the pears into a mesh strainer or sieve and push through to remove seeds, spices and peel. Return pear puree to pressure cooker. Cook on simmer for 2-3 hours with the lid off, until the sauce reduces by at least half and becomes thick and carmelly. The finished pear butter should mound on a spoon.

Are you cooking anything from your garden this summer? I’d love to hear what you’re making.

And if you have any good pear recipes, do send them my way!