I wanted to create a recipe that uses hard pears for salads as they are perfect in the same way as carrots and celeriac are. So I created this healthy, tasty salad and tested it on friends at dinner and they really loved it and wanted the recipe, and they are still talking about how delicious it is. The dressing is an unusual combination of flavours, like mustard and lime juice, but trust me, it works. You can use ripe pears if your pears are ripe, it’s still delicious, and it’s also amazing with shavings of pecorino. Pecorino and lime, who’d have thought? Perfect, too, if you want to try new flavours salad-wise.

Recipe

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Poppy seeds
3 firm pears cored and very thinly sliced (I leave the skin on but its up to you) they can be sliced lengthways or in discs 
A round radicchio roughly shredded or chopped chicory
A sprig of parsley finely chopped
A sprig of chives finely chopped
1 teaspoon of maple syrup
¼ teaspoon of English mustard
1 lime, zest and juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

How:
Make the dressing by whisking together the oil, the mustard, the lime juice and the poppy seeds with the maple syrup and season to taste with the salt and pepper.
Put the pear slices into the dressing and leave to marinate for a few minutes.
The dressing slightly cooks the pear slices, so the longer you leave them the more tender they become.
Place the radicchio on a serving plate or in serving bowl and arrange the pear slices on top of it. Pour the dressing over the salad and sprinkle with the lime zest, the chives and the parsley.

lastly…. this salad is perfect with roasted meats, like chicken and lamb and really delicious with my vegetable tajine, with couscous…recipe in the index.