Mostarda di pere (pear mustard fruit)

Method

1. 1 Squeeze the lemon and pour the juice into a bowl with the water. Peel the pears, cut them in half and drop them into the bowl. Leave each pear in the water just for the time it takes to peel the next one.
2. 2 As you take them out, transfer them to a small pan. Cover the pears with the sugar. Put the lid on and leave to macerate for 4 hours.
3. 3 Put the pan on a low heat, still covered. When the fruit boils, let it cook for 3 minutes and turn off the heat. Set a small plate on the fruit so that it stays submerged and leave to cool.
4. 4 Take the pears out of the liquid and put them on a plate. Put the pan with the sugar back on the heat and let it boil until the syrup has reduced by half.
5. 5 Turn off the heat and put the pears back in, covering them with the small plate. Leave them to cool and then chop the pears up. I used a hand blender but I did not want to make a purée, I just gave it a few pulses with the blade so as to keep some pieces of pear.
6. 6 Add 3-4 drops of mustard essence and stir.
7. 7 Put it into the jars and boil them for 30 minutes to sterilise them.