Pear and Walnut Salad
Contributed by: Fred Fisher
This is a contemporary salad which has actually been around for quite a while now. I think it has achieved classic status.
The only thing that needs any preparation to speak of is the
dressing, but the pears do need to be ripe and juicy - comice are
perfect for this - and the parmesan needs to be shaved from a
fresh
block (if you haven't got any to hand, a good strong cheese like
stilton or feta will do very nicely indeed, but completely forget
about using that dirty sock-flavoured sawdust sold in pots,
laughingly labelled `Freshly Grated Parmesan').
If you want to turn this from a starter into a main course just add
some strips of dry-cured ham, smoked duck breast, or sauteed chicken
livers.
Ingredients:
- 2 ripe juicy comice pears
- 1 lemon
- 1 tblsp white wine vinegar
- salt
- 1 tsp grain mustard
- 6 tblsp walnut oil
- freshly ground black pepper
- handful roquette
- handful of fresh walnut halves, roughly crushed
- small block of fresh parmesan
Directions:
Peel and core the pears, then smear with a little lemon juice to
prevent them turning brown.
Put the vinegar and a good pinch of salt in a screw-top jar and shake
until the salt has desolved. Add the mustard and walnut oil, then
shake again to emulsify - the emulsion will hold for ten minutes
or
so, but give it another jiggle just before you use it to dress the
salad.
Assemble the salad: slice the pears lengthwise into thin segments and
place them rustically on four serving plates along with the roquette,
then scatter over the bruised walnuts. Drizzle with the
vinaigrette.
Using a potato peeler, shave the parmesan over the salad, then `dust'
with a little ground black pepper.
Serving Size: Makes 4 Servings
