Warm Pear, Pecan and Gorgonzola Salad Recipe
My mom’s been raving about this salad she’s been making all fall, and after she made it for me, I understood her enthusiasm.
It’s a great complex tasting but easy to prepare salad that, with its warm pears and toasted pecans, is perfect as a cold weather salad.
Because the pears are sautéed prior to serving, the pears do not need to be perfectly ripe prior to using, in fact, rock hard pears will work just fine here!
Warm Pear, Pecan and Gorgonzola Salad (for 2)
- 1 pear, cut into wedges that are about an inch in thickness, core and seeds removed
- 1 Tbls of butter
- A couple of cups of green strong salad vegetables – good options include fresh baby spinach or a mesclun mix
- ¼ of a cup whole pecans
- 1/8 of a cup of dried cranberries
- 1/3 of a cup of gorgonzola or stilton, or any blue cheese that you like. If you aren’t fond of blue cheese, you can substitute a strong cheddar here as well
- Lemon cream dressing – a couple of Tbls of mayo mixed with a couple of Tbls of heavy cream. Add in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. If it’s too thin, add in a little more mayo
Instructions
- Heat a heavy fry pan over medium and melt your butter. Once melted, add in the pear wedges and fry until browned on both sides, about 3 or 4 minutes per side, or until nicely browned and smelling great. This is a good way to use up rock hard pears, as pears do not need to be ripened for this recipe, the sautéing step will sweeten them up regardless.
- While the pears are sautéing, provided you’ve got room in your fry pan, toss the pecans into a corner of the pan and let them brown/toast for a minute or so – watching them closely and taking them off the heat after they’ve browned, but before they’ve started to blacken.
- Assemble your salad greens on 2 serving plates and then arrange your warm pear slices around and on the mounded salad leaves.
- Toss on the pecans and the cranberries and then crumble the cheese over the top.
- Serve with the dressing in a bowl at the table, so that people can add as much or as little as wanted.
Try to serve this shortly after frying the pears, as the contrast between cold salad leaves and the warm nuts and pears really makes all the difference – perfect for a cold weather salad when a little warmth is appreciated.
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