Prunes: Not just for Grannies

Look. I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking "ewwwww, PRUNES? Who's she trying to kid? I mean seriously. She likes ketchup chips! Where do dried bits which look like poo and make you do the same thing even fit into it?"

But yes. Prunes.

Ok, so I never was a big fan of them. In fact, when a friend's boyfriend offered his personal bag of them on the table we were assembling for a snack-y finger food and drink night, I immediately made fun of, belittled and laughed at him. It was deserved. Who the hell offers up prunes on a table of cheese, wine, charcuterie, olives and French bread? Sadly when he offered them to the guests, they each took one. He took it as a triumph on his part, I took it as politeness on their part.

In any case, this dried black thing may be a best friend of the colon but it sure isn't my best friend. Until this recipe that is.

I first read about Frankie's Spuntino's Wine-Stewed Prunes on The Wednesday's Chef and as it happened that I had a bag of prunes left over from my grandmother's visit (yes, she actually eats them) and about a glass of wine leftover, I thought I'd give it a go. I mean, after all, her description sounded good, no?

Well, besides making the flat smell like a delicious version of Christmas, I had it over thick Greek yogurt and I can formally announce that I'm a convert.

Deep, dark, rich, sweet, slightly spicy and oh so moreish, it is fabulous.

And with the prunes d'Agen that I bought last week at the market, it makes a wonderfully indulgent snack spooned over some yogurt.

Only 4 ingredients, how can you NOT try it? Go, try and report back... in the meantime, I think I'll have another one thank you very much! I've made some modifications to the recipe to suit myself.




Wine Spiced Prunes


20 prunes
3/4 cups sugar
1 cinnamon sticks
1 cup red wine (give or take a tablespoon... basically whatever you have left over, assuming that its approx. 1 cup!)


1. Dump all into a pot, heat and simmer until the liquid is syrupy

2. Remove from heat, and rest ... basically so you don't scald your mouth!


I think 3 prunes per single serving container of yogurt is perfect but you can go with the traditional recipe on The Wednesday Chef's blog entry here.


I put what I don't eat that evening in the fridge. It lasts a while... although not in my fridge it doesn't. Mmmmmnn...