Here's a recipe for pear mincemeat.
Mincemeat is mainly used to make a mincemeat pie ... a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert. It's sometimes used in cookies and other dessert recipes too.
Pear Mincemeat Recipe
7 pounds fully ripe pears (about 25 to 30 medium size pears)
1 lemon
2 pounds seedless raisins
6 -1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
1 T. cinnamon
1 T. nutmeg
1 T. ground cloves
1 T. allspice
1 tsp. ginger
Preparation -
Peel and core the pears. Coarsely chop or cube the pears. Cut the lemon into quarters and remove the seeds. Finely chop or grind the lemon. Stir the chopped pears, lemon, raisins and vinegar together in a stockpot. Mix the sugar and spices together. Stir the sugar and spice mixture into the fruit and vinegar mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 40 to 45 minutes, or until thickened, stirring often. Ladle into hot canning jars... about 4 quarts or 8 pints. Place the caps and rings on the jars and process in a boiling water bath canner for 25 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner. Cool to room temperature, check the seals, label the jars, and store in a cool, dark place.
To make a mincemeat pie...
For a 9" pie, mix about 1 tablespoon rum or rum flavoring + about 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans with 2 pints or 1 quart mincemeat. Prepare pastry for a 2 crust pie. Place the mincemeat mixture in an unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter. Cover with the top pastry and flute the edges. Cut a few vents in the top crust. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake for about 40 more minutes or until the mincemeat filling is thick and bubbly and the crust is light golden brown.
