French Food Friday - Warm Pear Salad with Roquefort Dressing

We love roquefort cheese and find thast the roquefort works well with the pears and walnuts. All you need to add is some slices of crusty baguette and you have a very tasty salad that is perfect for an entree or a light lunch.

Note if you cannot get roquefort cheese, use a strong  blue cheese.

Warm Pear and Walnut Salad with Roquefort Dressing 

Serves 4 as a light lunch or 6 as a starter

Ingredients:
2 hard dessert pears
40 g walnut pieces
150 g Roquefort cheese
1 tbsp walnut oil
10 g butter
2 rounded tbsp crème fraîche
1 large egg yolk
2 x 60 gm bags herb salad or equivalent

Method:
1.Cut the pears into quarters, remove the cores but leave the skins on, then cut each quarter into 4 slices. Next, heat the walnut oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and lightly sauté the walnuts, tossing them around for about 1 minute. Now transfer them with a draining spoon to a plate. Add the butter to the pan at the same heat, then add the pears and sauté them for about 2-3 mins on each side until they are nicely brown. Next, drain the pears on kitchen paper, arrange them on a plate and keep them warm.

2. Make the sauce. To do this, place the crème fraîche in a small saucepan with the rest of the Roquefort, crumbling it as you add it. Now whisk the two together over a gentle heat until the cheese begins to melt and form a sauce. Then drop in the egg yolk and continue to whisk until the sauce thickens; don’t let it reach boiling point – it should be almost there but not quite.

3.Remove the pan from the heat and leave it on one side while you divide the salad leaves between 4 serving plates. Arrange the pears around the leaves, scatter with the walnuts, then pour the dressing  over each salad and  serve straight away.

bon vendredi a tous, Leeann x