Sunday, 26 May 2013

Pear, gorgonzola and sticky walnut salad





Roasted pears, walnuts and gorgonzola are made for each other. Usually I'd just toast the walnuts and toss this salad with a french dressing. But there was a small bottle of Balsamic apple glaze in my pantry which had lingered there for ages and begged to be used.

This Balsamic Apple glaze was made by infusing Modena Balsamic vinegar  with apple.

The walnuts became sticky and lusciously sweet when they were stirred into a mixture of this and warmed olive oil.Their intense fruity flavour added more depth to this salad

Kate and I created this salad together. We decided to use only a small quantity of cheese as otherwise this salad would have been overly rich. We served it as a vegetarian meal alongside potatoes which had been cut in half, scored, brushed with olive oil and baked in the oven.

Ingredients:

3 pears (cored and cut into 8 's)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
100 grams of walnuts (I used freshly cracked spray free "Wild" brand)
1/4 cup of olive oil
50-75 grams of gorgonzola (I used Puhoi Valley)
2 tablespoons of  Apple Balsamic glaze (Signature Range)
3 cups of mesclun salad leaves

Method:

Toss the pears in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and roast in a moderate oven (180 degrees C) for 20 minutes.
Warm  1/4 cup of olive oil over a moderate heat.
Add the walnut pieces. Cook for 3 minutes. Take off the stove and leave to cool for a few minutes before stirring in  two tablespoons of balsamic apple glaze.
Arrange the mesclun on a platter. Scatter over the pears. Lift the walnuts out of the oil and scatter around the pears.
Crumble the gorgonzola over the top.
Dribble the remainder of the flavoured oil over the salad.

               
                    





 

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