Strudels of pears poached in red wine

Ingredients:

Pears in wine

• 3 tbsp. Cabernet Sauvignon wines
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 star anise
• 4 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored, and halved

Strudel

• 2 layers of puff pastry
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 egg, beaten with 2 tbsp water, for greasing
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation:

1. Pour the wine, sugar, cinnamon sticks, and star anise into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the pears, place a sheet of parchment paper directly on the surface of the liquid, and cook over medium heat at a gentle simmer (just a few bubbles should rise to the surface) until the pears are easily pierced with a fork.
   
   Cool the pears and keep them in the same liquid until ready to pick. If you prepare the pears 1-2 days in advance and leave them in the wine, they will turn completely red.
2. Preheat oven to 190°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Place one sheet of puff pastry on a clean work surface, cut it into thin strips with a pizza cutter, leaving one wide strip uncut, and brush with a thin layer of melted butter. Remove the pears from the wine (you can save the wine to reduce it later, make a syrup, and pour it into an ice cream maker for a wonderful sorbet).
4. Take a wide strip of dough and cut part of it into squares. Place the pears on the squares to cover the bottom. Take the cut strips and wrap them in a spiral around the pears. Tuck the edges of the dough, cut out leaves on the wide strip and glue them to the pears, brushing them with egg. Place the strudels seam-side down on a baking sheet and brush the surface with egg. Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top.
5. Bake the strudels for about 20 minutes until evenly golden brown. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.