Recipe Sunday: Roasted Pear Salad


Roasted pears on a bed of cool greens with a lemon vinaigrette creates a salad that’s worthy of a champagne toast.

For a long time pears were my least favorite fruit. But, over the past month I’ve played with them twice and now I’ve fallen in love with pears. The trick is that I’ve been cooking with them. For Thanksgiving I braised some in Riesling, and then last week I decided to roast some, because I was curious to taste them once they had been caramelized. They were sweet, but not excessively so. And then when they were paired with the lemon dressing, almonds and goat cheese, the pears were transformed into the perfect headliner in this sweet and savory salad.

Roasted Pear Salad with Goat Cheese

  • 1 pear (I used a bartlett)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • ¼ cup of goat cheese
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped almonds
  • Baby greens

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash the pear and slice it in half. Using a melon baller remove the seeds. Slice the pears vertically and place the slices on a rimmed sheet pan. Drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve on the greens, along with the goat cheese and vinaigrette.

Lemon Vinaigrette

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon minced shallot
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • Salt and pepper

Serves 2.

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