Greens Salad with Pear, Roquefort, and Crispy Chestnuts
A Little Personal History:
Needed to come up with a light yet flavorful salad for Thanksgiving. Here’s one of my favorites.
Description:
How shall we describe this dish?
| Categories: | Salad |
| Servings: | 6-8 servings |
| Time: | – Preparation: 20 minutes |
| Equipment: | Prep: 10-inch heavy skillet, large salad bowl Serving: Serving fork and spoon |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus 6 tablespoons
- 4 cups whole roasted, shelled, and skinned chestnuts, about 1 pound in shell or 2 (14 ounce) bottles
- 4 firm-ripe red pears
- 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoon Red Wine vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
- 1 head chicory (curly endive), torn (6 cups)
- 8 ounces Roquefort, crumbled
Procedure:
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute 1/2 the chestnuts with salt and pepper, to taste, stirring, until crisp on outside (being careful not to burn or cook until hard), about 4 minutes. Make other batch the same way. Remove from heat.
- Halve and core pears, then cut lengthwise into thin slices.
- Whisk together mustard, vinegar, and salt and pepper, to taste, in a large bowl and add remaining 6 tablespoons oil in a slow stream, whisking until emulsified.
- Whisk in shallot.
- Add chicory, chestnuts, pears, and Roquefort and toss until evenly coated.
- Season with salt and pepper.
Advanced Preparation:
- The salad can be prepared day of and refrigerated till ready to serve.
Tips, Notes, and Variations:
- Stilton cheese is a great substitute, if you can find it.
- For variety, I’ve also included raisins, diced apples & substituted walnuts for chestnuts.
You must log in to post a comment.