Lavender Pear Bellini

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A festive cocktail for the holidays and the New Year! Hello 2017. It’s January. Oh January! It’s always so cold this time of year that it seems all people want to do is stay inside and sleep. But where I grew up, January was also a time to party. We had many a good blizzard party … as soon as the storm was announced, we would all head over to my friend’s house to get “snowed in” together … and there was plenty of alcohol involved.  That was many years ago, but I still like to celebrate my birthday month with a good cocktail.

I actually made this cocktail over the holidays to share with my sister and we really enjoyed it, but I didn’t post the recipe because I was waiting for something … Gifts.com had contacted me and announced that they had a new line of customized products … and it was bar-ware! Oh yeah!

The only problem was … I got busy over the holidays and didn’t get back to them in time to get my pretty new bar-ware before the holidays were over. No worries … hey, we still have Super Bowl Sunday coming up, right? You don’t have to wait for the Super Bowl, though. These Lavender Pear Bellini’s are a delightful way to cheer up your winter doldrums. I may or may not have one sitting beside me right now …

(by the way, in case you’re wondering … yes there is an “s” at the end of Sumptuous on this glass. I dripped a little down the side of the glass as I was pouring and that drenched the final “s”, rendering it slightly invisible in the photos, but yes, it’s still there! I love my new champagne glass from Gifts.com.)

Lavender Pear Bellini

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 8 - 10 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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For the lavender pear nectar:

• 1 1/2 cups red wine (merlot, shiraz, cabernet, pinot noir … whichever red wine makes you happy)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1– 2 small sprigs of fresh lavender leaves (or fresh rosemary)
• 2 – 4 ripe pears

For the cocktail:

• Prosecco
• 1/2 – 1 oz. of the pear nectar

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Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together the red wine, cinnamon stick, vanilla, sugar and lavender until almost boiling. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
2. While the wine mixture is heating, peel the pears and cut them in half lengthwise. Use a melon baller to remove the core. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, reduce heat to a simmer and add the pears, cut side up. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, then flip the pears and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer to remove the lavender leaves and any loose chunks of pear.
3. Pour the syrup into a jar and chill. Reserve the poached pear halves for dessert or a salad.
4. Once the syrup is chilled, pour a glass of prosecco, leaving a bit of room on the top. Pour in 1/2 – 1 oz. of the reserved pear nectar, to taste. Garnish with fresh lavender leaves/flowers.

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at What’s for Dinner Sunday.