Roasted Pear and Hazelnut Salad

11/16/2020

Roasted Pear and Hazelnut Salad

This gorgeous Fall salad originally made it's way to the blog in October of 2013. I was in the midst of a part-time cooking program in LA and learned this technique to roast pears on a bed of herbs, drizzled with honey, and seasoned with salt and pepper, and it became my go-to when I wanted to make an elegant, flavorful salad that was just a little different and more festive than my usual. I figured it was time to update the photos to do this recipe justice, but I couldn't bear to delete the old cooking video, so I'll save that for ya at the end! While sometimes I cringe watching these old videos (which I once spent hours editing on iMovie at the wee hours of the night!), it's a peek into my mid-20s and I figure I should keep them for the memories! Ok back to the salad! This one would be such a beauty on your Thanksgiving table and a total hit for our intimate Thanksgiving celebrations this year! 

The serious star of the show in this recipe is obviously the roasted pears. They look impressive, but they're super easy to make, and they make the house smell so delicious and fragrant as they're baking in the oven over the fresh herbs! Honestly, I might want to skip the pie this year and just have these roasted pears with some vanilla ice cream on top, yum!

Ingredients
3 large handfuls of mixed greens 
2 Bartlett pears, peeled and sliced in half (not quite ripe is best!)
Drizzle of honey
1/3 cup raw hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup dried Turkish figs
1/4 cup freshly shaved Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch fresh thyme and/or rosemary

Dressing:
1/2 shallot, minced
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp honey
Salt & pepper to taste

Serves 3.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out a few sprigs of fresh thyme and/or rosemary on the paper. 
2. Peel the pears, then slice in half, and use a melon baller or spoon to remove seeds. With the flat side down, cut the pear downwards and at a slight diagonal to make several slices. Press down to "fan" the pear out.
3. Transfer the sliced pears to the baking sheet and place them on top of the herbs.  Drizzle lightly with honey and season with freshly cracked salt and pepper. Roast pears until they are soft and slightly golden - about 25 minutes.
4. At the same time, toast hazelnuts in the oven until golden - about 5 minutes or until fragrant. Careful not to overcook / burn them.
5. While the pears roast, prepare the dressing. Chop the shallot and let it sit in 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar for 5-10 minutes. Then add olive oil, honey, salt and pepper.
6. Assemble the rest of the salad ingredients in a bowl (saving a bit of the Parmesan for garnish). Toss with the dressing. Once the pears are finished, carefully remove them from baking sheet, discarding the herbs, and place the pears on top of the salad. ​Garnish with the remaining Parmesan and serve!

​Wishing you and your family a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving!

and for old times sake... a way-too-long and detailed cooking video from 25 year old Lindsay :)