Cranberry sauce is one of those things that everybody loves to hate. Not me. I’m a huge fan. And while canned sauce is perfectly adequate if I’m eating at someone else’s house (I read somewhere recently that some people just take the sauce out of the can and slice it, which I find to be hilarious. A little weird, but hilarious) but when I’m cooking, I always make my own.
Homemade cranberry sauce has a glorious garnet colour and a bright taste, it’s ridiculously easy to make and can be made several days ahead.
It’s also a dish that can be customized in a myriad ways. Over the years I have added orange zest, port, raisins, cherries. But this year I happened to have pears on hand and on a whim, chopped them up and tossed them in. The result was delicious. There’s something about the sweetness and texture of pear that offsets the cranberries brash tartness, smoothing out all of their rough edges so that the two fruits meld perfectly together.
Go on, try it. I dare you. The recipe can be easily halved for anyone hosting a surfeit of cranberry sauce naysayers and leftovers are delicious eaten with greek yoghurt for breakfast.
Pear Cranberry Sauce
- 1 bag cranberries
- 2 pears, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 C. sugar
- 1/2 C. water
- Throw all the ingredients in a saucepan, stir well and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Lower heat and simmer about 15 minutes until cranberries pop and break down a little.
