Vegetarian Christmas starter recipe for 2 people, takes only 5 mins; recipe has clear honey, rosemary, olive oil, blanched hazelnut, lemon, balsamic vinegar, mixed leaf, pear and manchego.
Pear & manchego salad
Course: Vegetarian Christmas starter
Servings
2
servings
Prep time
15 mins
Ingredients
- Olive Oil: 2 tsp olive oil, plus a drizzle for toasting the nuts
- Lemon: zest 1/4 lemon
- Balsamic Vinegar: 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- Rosemary: 2 rosemary sprigs
- Clear Honey: 1 tbsp good-quality clear honey
- Pear: 1 ripe pear, halved, cored and thinly sliced
- Blanched Hazelnut: 2 tbsp blanched hazelnut
- Mixed Leaf: 75g mixed leaf (we used red chicory, watercress and rocket)
- Manchego: 25g manchego (or a vegetarian hard cheese)
Directions
- Heat the honey and rosemary in a small pan with 1 tbsp boiling water. Bring to a simmer and let it bubble for around 30 secs. Remove from the heat and allow to infuse.
- Heat a frying pan and drizzle in a little oil. Add the hazelnuts and toast until golden and starting to char a little here and there. Remove from the pan, allow to cool, then chop roughly to make a rustic crumb. Mix with the lemon zest and some seasoning.
- To make a dressing, combine the olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some seasoning. Toss the salad leaves in most of the dressing, then arrange on serving plates or a platter, layering the leaves with the pear slices. Top with shavings of manchego and the hazelnut crumb, then drizzle over some of the rosemary honey and the remaining dressing. Serve with prosciutto twists (see tip, below) for the meat-eaters.
