This is as close as a salad gets to a dessert. Blue cheese and pears are a classic combination. We fell in love with the idea of the pears, designed this dish around them and now it’s one of our most popular. You can caramelise the pears about two hours in advance – not more than that though because the sugar dissolves. If pears are not in season, you can get away with tinned ones.

INGREDIENTS

20 rashers crispy bacon, chopped

32 walnuts, dry roasted

Golden pears

12 baby pears

300 g sugar

160 ml balsamic toffee dressing

30 g caramelised sugar

130 ml olive oil

30 ml balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Salad

2 large handfuls baby spinach

2 large handfuls baby lettuce leaves

2 large handfuls baby gem lettuce

2 avocados, sliced lengthways

caramelised sugar shards

200 g Gorgonzola cheese

METHOD

1. First fry the bacon until crispy and dry roast the walnuts in a pan. Set aside to cool. Peel the pears and pat dry. If you’re using tinned ones, drain them well before caramelising.

2. Caramelise the sugar in a pot over a high heat. Don’t stir it, rather gently shake the sugar in the pan until it has melted. Be careful: caramelised sugar is extremely hot. Tilt the pan slightly and dip each pear into the caramel.

3 . Place on a baking tray to harden. Once the pears have all been covered, pour the remaining caramel (less 30g for the dressing) onto a baking sheet. It should form a thin pool which you can break into shards when it has cooled and hardened.

4. To make the dressing, crush 30 g of the caramelised sugar that you kept aside. Mix with the rest of the dressing ingredients.

5. Assemble the salad using the spinach as a base. Scatter with the leaves, avocado slices, bacon and walnuts and arrange 3 baby pears on top of each serving. Drizzle with the dressing, and garnish with crumbled Gorgonzola and caramelised sugar shards.

Serves 4

Posted with permission from: tashas Café Classics.

For more information, go to www.tashascafe.com