Salad of pears, hazelnuts and Cashel Blue cheese
This simple, autumnal salad from Diana Henry includes pears fried in butter, crunchy hazelnuts and creamy Irish Cashel Blue cheese.
This recipe is taken from Roast Figs, Sugar Snow by Diana Henry (Octopus, £22) Photography: Jason Lowe
Diana says: 'The Irish cheese Cashel Blue is one of my favourites. It’s a rich, creamy blue and I always think it tastes slightly of smoky bacon. If you can’t get hold of it, use Gorgonzola or Dolcelatte instead. This dish is based on a classic French bistro salad, for which they generally don’t sauté the pears or include roast onion, so go down that route if you’re feeling lazy. Apples can be used instead of pears, and walnuts instead of hazelnuts.'
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Salad
- 1 small red onion
- olive oil
- 3 pears, not too ripe
- 30g of unsalted butter
- 150g of salad leaves, a mixture of watercress, chicory and baby spinach
- 75g of hazelnuts, lightly toasted but not skinned, halved
- 175g of Cashel Blue cheese, crumbled
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Dressing
- 2 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp caster sugar, or to taste
- 4 tbsp of hazelnut oil, or walnut oil
- 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, fruity rather than grassy
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (375°F), Gas 5
Halve the red onion and cut it into crescent-shaped slices. Put into a small ovenproof dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
- 1 small red onion
- olive oil
Roast in the preheated oven for 20–30 minutes, or until soft with slightly caramelised tips. Keep warm
Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together. Season
- 2 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp caster sugar, or to taste
- 4 tbsp of hazelnut oil, or walnut oil
- 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, fruity rather than grassy
Halve and core the pears, then cut them, lengthways, into slices 0.75cm (1/4 inch) thick
- 3 pears, not too ripe
Melt the butter in a frying pan and quickly sauté the pear slices on each side until golden. Don’t overcook them, they should still hold their shape
- 30g of unsalted butter
Toss the salad leaves with the nuts, using most of the dressing, then divide between 6 plates. Add the pear slices and warm onion and scatter with the cheese. Drizzle each plate with the rest of the dressing and serve
- 150g of salad leaves, a mixture of watercress, chicory and baby spinach
- 75g of hazelnuts, lightly toasted but not skinned, halved
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