Melt the sugar in a pan without fat while stirring until golden brown. Deglaze with Marsala, lemon juice and 1/8 litre of water and boil off. Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the pulp.
Add the cinnamon stick, vanilla pod and pulp and simmer for 5 minutes. Peel and halve the pears, remove the core. Steam pears in the prepared broth covered at low heat for about 7 minutes. Let cool in the liquid.
Remove vanilla pod and cinnamon stick. Cut the pears into fan shapes and serve with some liquid and 1 scoop of ice cream each. Sprinkle with pistachios and garnish with mint as desired.