One more post on quince, because I made some more quince jelly (so easy, and so delicious), but this time I decided to do something with the leftover pulp.

One of our favorite snacks is quince paste, or membrillo, on top of manchego cheese. It’s quintessentially Spanish, easy to make, and the sweet paste goes perfectly with the cheese. I usually buy little containers of membrillo, but I figured I could use the leftover pulp from jelly making to whip up some homemade membrillo.

I had to slightly modify the recipe I used since my quince was already cooked, but included the peel. I put it through a food mill to get rid of the peel, then cooked it down a bit more with some sugar, lemon juice and vanilla paste.

It made a LOT of paste. I put it into a 9×13 pan and into a 150 degree oven overnight, but it still wasn’t ready the next morning. It needs to be sliceable, but it was still in a spoonable state. So I kept it in the oven, and kept checking it. That night…. still not ready. Better, but not yet.

It was firm enough to flip out of the pan onto a sheet pan, and when I poked at the bottom it was still not firm enough, so I put it back in the oven overnight. What should have been a couple of hours in the oven turned into 48 hours.

I think next time, I’ll spread the paste thinner in a larger pan, and I’ll cook it down more on the top of the stove before putting it in the oven. It’s still really delicious, although I’m not sure how we’re going to eat this giant hunk of membrillo that we’ve ended up with.

• Quince Paste (Fine Cooking #113, September 2011, p. 14)