Pear, prosciutto and blue cheese salad

This salad is perfect for autumn; it's still (just) warm enough to want to eat salads but this also provides the big, hearty flavours that I start to long for at this time of year, making you feel full and satisfied.

Pears, blue cheese and prosciutto are a classic combination that never fails to please so this salad is worth bearing in mind for a quick starter if you've got friends coming over for dinner. It works really well as a lunch dish too. A delicious vegetarian version can be made with minimal fuss - just dispense with the prosciutto (obviously) and sprinkle over some roughly chopped walnuts.

A note on ingredients - I used Perl Las when I last made this - it's an organic cheese from Carmarthenshire with a strong but creamy flavour and those unmistakable blue overtones. It works particularly well in sauces and salads but you can substitute it with any strong blue cheese you happen to have. The best pears to use are the harder variety ones here; this is not the place for very ripe, mushy pears. My favourite ones in salads are Conference pears.

As you can see from the photo, it does have an undeniable 'eighties' look to it. However, I don't think that this is anything I should apologise for - it tastes great and that's what counts.

I'm sending this over to Nazima and Pierre at their wonderful new blog, Franglais Kitchen - they're hosting this month's Simple and In Season challenge, started by Ren from Fabulicious Food.




RECIPE - serves 4 as a starter

2 pears
100g prosciutto
50g blue cheese
50g single cream

Salad leaves

Wash the pears and cut into quarters, removing the core. Then cut each quarter in half again, giving you eighths.

Wrap prosciutto round each segment of pear - I find that half a slice of prosciutto is enough for one segment.

Melt the cheese and cream gently in a pan, being careful not to let it boil. It should be a pouring consistency - if it's too thick you can add a little milk or even water to thin it slightly.

Put a handful of salad leaves on a plate, arrange the prosciutto-wrapped pears on top and then drizzle over the sauce. It doesn't need any salt because of the blue cheese.

                                 

Pear and gorgonzola crostoni

....or cheese on toast, Italian style.

This 'crostone' is a decent sized snack, perfect for a light lunch, not to be confused with 'crostini' which are smaller, bite-sized pieces of toasted bread, usually served at aperitif time ('...ini' suffix in Italian indicating something small, '...oni' indicating something big).

The combination of blue cheese and pear is not a new one I know but the two work perfectly together. You get the best results from using a really strong blue cheese in order to offset the sweetness of the pear. I've used gorgonzola here but make sure it's piccante (which is the strong one) rather than the milder gorgonzola dolce. Roquefort and stilton are excellent too.

You need a thick slice of crusty bread for this. I've found that anything with seeds or nuts in really enhances it, my absolute favourite being walnut bread. However, it's good with just a decent wholemeal or white loaf too so just give it a go.

RECIPE - serves 1

a thick slice of crusty bread (see note above)
gorgonzola 'piccante' or similar blue cheese, enough to cover the bread
half a pear, thinly sliced
a drizzle of honey (optional)

Lightly toast the bread on both sides. Slice the cheese, not too thinly, and cover the toasted bread with it. Put it under a hot grill until bubbling. Top with the pear slices and drizzle with honey.