A rich red-wine kydonopasto with warm spices and roasted almonds. Inspired by tradition, finished with a personal Valentine’s twist.
Every year I come back to Kydonopasto (quince paste), a dessert steeped in memory and shaped by patience, much like poetry..
This time around, my inspiration was chef Stelios Parliaros’s red-wine kydonopasto, a deeply aromatic version created with wine, spices, and patience.
His version blends quinces and pears, simmers the fruit in red wine with lemon and whole spices tied in a sachet, then purees and cooks it with sugar until it becomes thick and glossy. The wine infuses the fruit during the initial simmer, while the cooked wine itself is kept for another use.
I twisted that foundation to make something a bit more personal and Valentine-appropriate:
Here’s my version of the recipe:
I cooked my quince directly without peeling them, as I did in my other Kydonopasto, for 30 minutes.
Then I drained the water and when I could handle them, I peeled and cored them. When done, I weighed the fruit and had 750 grams of fruit.
I put them back in the pot and added a 750 ml semi-sweet red wine, as well as a stick of cinnamon, four whole cloves, two star anise and four allspice berries, which I simmered until the wine reduced, leaving maybe a couple of tablespoons of wine.
I carefully removed the spices and after pureeing the fruit with a hand mixer, I added the sugar and let it sit until the sugar dissolved.
After it came to a boil, I reduced the heat and simmered it for another 25 minutes, mixing it regularly.
Just before the end, I had already blanched and roasted some almonds, which I coarsely cut with a chef’s knife.
After mixing in the almonds, I lightly brushed a muffin tin and a heart shaped tin with mild extra virgin olive oil and added the quince paste. The amount I added was about 2/3 the height of the muffin tin and around 2 cm for the heart shaped tin.
The final result is a deep ruby almond-studded paste, perfect with cheese or simply on its own, heart-shaped for Valentine’s ❤️.
Serving & Pairing
This paste is wonderful with sharp cheeses, fresh bread, or even just cut into little hearts and shared with someone you love. A wine-soaked quince paste, refined by slow cooking and enriched with almonds, is not just dessert, it’s a conversation starter!!
Red-Wine Kydonopasto with Spices and Roasted Almonds
A rich red-wine kydonopasto with warm spices and roasted almonds. Inspired by tradition, finished with a personal Valentine’s twist.
Ingredients
- 750 gr. quince (peeled, cored, boiled)
- 750 ml semi-sweet red wine
- 50 gr. roasted, blanched almonds
- Spices:
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 4 allspice berries
- 500 gr. sugar (add more, if you prefer it sweeter or if you use red dry wine)
Instructions
- Wash the quince and put them in a large pot.
- Add water to cover them and place a plate on top of them to keep them submerged.
- Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook for about 30 minutes, or until
soft. - Drain and add cold water. Drain them again and peel and core them.
- Put them in a pot and add the wine and spices.
- Simmer until the
wine reduces and the quince softens. - Remove THE spices and puree the fruit with a hand mixer.
- Add the sugar, stir and let it sit until sugar has dissolved about 15 minutes.
- Cook low and slow until the paste thickens and darkens, stirring often.
- Stir in roasted almonds near the end so they stay crunchy.
- Lightly oil a baking tray or line it with parchment paper.
- Spread the paste and chill until set.
Nutrition Information
Yield 25 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 110Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gSodium 10mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 1gSugar 23gProtein 1g
"These values are automatically calculated and offered for guidance only. Their accuracy is not guaranteed."
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,
