Pear, blue cheese and walnut salad

Ensalada de pera, queso azul y nueces — Pear, blue cheese and walnut salad

After several sweet recipes, I thought it was time to prepare a salad. It is true that with blue cheese, walnuts, and puff pastry it is not exactly what you would call a light dish. But this is a healthy, complete meal, very easy and quick to prepare… and probably one of the best salads I have ever had. The pears wrapped in puff pastry look beautiful in this dish, making it an ideal choice when you have unexpected guests.

Even my little kids who are not too fond of green salads loved the mix of flavours and sensations in this pear, blue cheese, and walnut salad: tangy from the blue cheese, fruity from the pears, and crunchy from the pastry and walnuts. The honey vinaigrette pulls it all together!

As with any salad recipe, you can adjust the ingredients and quantities to your taste. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

{Pear, blue cheese and walnut salad}

Preparation: 20 min

Cooking time: 15 min

Yield: 2

Ingredients

Salad:

2 ripe pears (conference pears, preferably)
1 sheet puff pastry
150 g – 200 g baby leaf salad (1 pkg)
1/2 cup walnuts
50 g blue cheese, chopped

Dressing:

4 tbs EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs honey
1 pinch of salt

Directions

Peel pears and core from the bottom. Cut the bottom of the pears, so they will stand upright.
Preheat oven to 400 ºF. Cut the puff pastry into 2-3 cm wide strips
Starting at the top, wind a pastry strip around one pear, slightly overlapping the edges of the pastry and tucking the end under the pear. Repeat with the remaining pastry strips and pear.
Place the wrapped
pears onto a baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes aprox. If the pear top browns too fast, cover it with aluminium foil
Remove from the oven, and set aside whilst preparing the salad
Distribute the baby leaf salad in two bowls. Add the walnuts and blue cheese, and toss to mix evenly
In a separate bowl, mix dressing ingredients
Place pears over the baby leaf salads, and serve together with salad dressing

NOTES:

You might serve salad when it is completely cool, but I like it best when the pears are still warm
Do not assemble the salad until a few minutes before serving
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