Wine poached pears are one of the most delicious and easy things to make. Perfect for fancy dessert but did you know they make a great salad too? So here is the recipe for a delicious Poached Pear salad with a bit of cheese to create magic.
Wine poached pears are one of my trademark desserts, all my friends and family love it. And almost always after a party, I end up using the leftovers (because I do make extra, I am smart like that) for a Poached Pear salad. Add some fresh salad leaves, some soft cheese and it is like an extension of the party itself. And I have to admit, there have been occasions that I have indeed made poached pears specifically for the salad. Perfect use of that little leftover wine if you ask me.
For this version of the salad, I have used a mix of red lettuce, green lettuce, rocket and baby red amaranth leaves. But I really think most salad greens will work here apart from iceberg lettuce. Ok, I will let you in with a little secret here. I don’t like iceberg lettuce much. I think it lacks in flavor and the only time I really use it when making lettuce boats/rolls.
Coming to cheese, I used a paprika flavored boursin cheese I picked up from 10 cuts of cheese. (Read about 10cuts of cheese on the linked Instagram picture). But most soft cheeses will work here. At some point in time, I have indeed used – cream cheese, goat cheese, blue cheese, ricotta and fresh mozzarella. So don’t worry too much and add whatever you have in the pantry.
Like always, use this (and most) salad recipe as a guideline and create the salad that you and your family will enjoy.
If you make this, share a picture with me on twitter, instagram or Facebook? I would love to hear what you say. And track all the posts for the Salad A-Z here.
Best Cheese and Poached Pear Salad
Ingredients
For the poached pear
- 4 pear
- 1 bottle red wine (750ml)
- 1 vanilla bean split
- 1 inch lemon peel
- 1 inch orange peel
- 2 cloves
- 2 whole peppercons
- 1 Star anise
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp Smoked paprika
For the dressing
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp wine syrup from the poached pears
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
For the salad
- 1.5 cup mixed salad greens
- 2 cucumber sliced
- 10-12 Cherry Tomatoes sliced in half
- 1/4 cup cheese
- 2 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds
- poached pears
Instructions
- In a large pan, bring to boil wine mixed with sugar and spices. Add pears cored and cut in half. Keep the flat side down and simmer for 15-20 minutes, till the pears are tender.
- Remove the pears from the pan and set aside. Reserve the wine syrup for later.
- Emulsify the salad dressing ingredients together.
- In a large bowl, mix together salad leaves, cucumber and cherry tomato. Add half of the dressing and gently mix.
- For serving, arrange the salad mix on a plate. Add sliced poached pears, sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and drizzle some more dressing on top.
- I like to add little flowers of piped soft cheese but you can just randomly spread some. Serve immediately.
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