Did you know that pears can be an excellent source of dietary fibres? And using them in a salad makes them even more exotic! Pears can be perfect in a salad as their sweetness will balance out the salt and pepper and other ingredients. We will also be using hazelnut vinaigrette, made with authentic balsamic vinegar, so you can imagine the tangy flavour of the salad.
We will be complementing the pear with Belgian endives (chicory also works well if you can’t find endives), lettuce, Gorgonzola cheese and several other delicious ingredients to make up the perfect salad for a summer evening accompanied by a glass of chilled Prosecco!
Let’s start by preparing the basic elements of the salad. To begin, we’ll prepare the hazelnut vinaigrette. Here are the ingredients you will be needing –
- >> Half a cup of toasted hazelnuts
- >> 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
- >> 1 tablespoon of honey
- >> Half a cup of extra virgin olive oil
- >> Ground black pepper and salt.
Place a bowl on top of a towel or cloth to help it grip the work surface.
Grind the toasted hazelnuts and incorporate with the honey and the vinegar in the bowl using a whisk. While whisking constantly, slowly keep adding the olive oil at regular intervals just as you would do to make mayonnaise.
Add all the oil and keep incorporating air by whisking until the mixture thickens.
Add salt and pepper to taste and place in the fridge.
If you wish you can prepare the vinaigrette up to a week in advance and refrigerate it.
Now come the Pears. The ingredients required are –
- >> 3 pears, cored and halved
- >> 2 tablespoons of butter
- >> 2 tablespoons of sugar
Start off by heating the butter in a pan on a medium high heat.
Add the sugar and swirl around. Allow the sugar to caramelize just a little bit before adding in the pears.
Keep the pears moving around so that they become golden brown all over.
Cook for approximately four minutes and transfer on to a tray for cooling.
Now for the Salad. You will need the following –
- >> 4 heads of lettuce
- >> 4 Belgian endives (or chicory)
- >> 225g (roughly 6 cups) of baby rocket leaves
- >> 125g of Gorgonzola cheese
- >> Seeds from 1 medium pomegranate.
Put the Pears, lettuce, endives and rocket in a salad bowl and toss to blend.
Lightly drizzle six tablespoons of vinaigrette on to the salad and evenly toss using hands. You may add more vinaigrette, salt and pepper to taste.
Once done, sprinkle Gorgonzola cheese and the pomegranate seeds on top immediately before serving.
Buon appetito! We hope that you enjoy this easy-to-prepare, nutrient-packed dish!