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Quince Paste
I have a quince tree on my property and every year it produces around 20 fragrant, yellow quinces. They are as hard as rocks, so you can’t eat them raw, you need to cook them. I adapted this recipe from one I found in Gourmet magazine. Serve small cubes of the paste with prosciutto or Serrano ham and some of the Spanish cheese called Manchego, or a nice sharp cheddar. Quince paste has a texture somewhere between that of stiff jelly and gumdrops. If you don’t have a quince tree now is the time to find some in your local grocery stores that may stock some out of the ordinary fruits.

Ingredients:

• 12-15 quinces (about 8 pounds total)
• 1- 2 cups water
• 6-8 cups sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Scrub quinces and pat dry. In a large roasting pan bake quinces, covered with foil, in middle of oven until tender, about 2 hours, and transfer pan to a rack. When quinces are cool enough to handle, with a sharp knife peel, quarter, and core them. You may have cooked them enough so they just collapse. If so, immediately push the pulp in batches through a large fine sieve, mixing with the water a bit at a time if necessary to thin it. Otherwise peel and core the quinces and puree the flesh in a food processor with some water.

Collect the puree in a liquid cup measure and measure amount of puree. Transfer puree to a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan and add an equivalent amount of sugar.

Cook quince puree over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and begins to pull away from side of pan, about 25 minutes. Pour puree into a 9X13 inch glass lasagna dish that has been lined with parchment paper, smoothing the top of the puree with a spatula if necessary, and cool. Chill puree, loosely covered with plastic wrap, until set, about 4 hours.

Remove from the glass dish and wrap well in wax paper and then plastic wrap. Keep chilled and it should be fine for 3 months.

Cut the paste into cubes or thin slices and serve with manchego cheese and thinly sliced cured ham such as prosciutto or Serrano.