Poached pear and goat cheese salad
Poached pear and goat cheese salad made with mixed greens, poached pears and herbed goat cheese with pear shallot vinaigrette
Servings 6
Ingredients
For the poached pears
- 3 firm pears the Bosc variety are great for poaching
- 3 cups of sweet white wine Riesling or Gewurztraminer
- ¾ cup of sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 strips orange peel
For the pear shallot vinaigrette:
- 3 tbs pear vinegar if you wan't find pear vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar
- 6 tbs olive oil
- 2 shallots peeled and chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the salad:
- 6-8 cups of mixed greens
- 6-8 tbs herbed goat cheese room temperature
Instructions
To poach the pears:
- Heat the wine, sugar, cinnamon and orange peel in a large saucepan, stir occasionally.
- Meanwhile peel the pears, cut them in half and core them; add them to the wine mix once it boils.
- Cook until the pears are tender but still slightly firm, about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let the pears cool down.
For the pear shallot vinaigrette:
- To prepare the vinaigrette combine all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix well. Taste and adjust salt/vinegar/oil if needed.
To assemble the salad:
- Toss the salad greens with the vinaigrette and arrange on a plate.
- Place each ½ pear on top of the salad greens or alternatively you can slice the pear halves and arrange the slices on top of the mixed greens.
- Put the herbed goat cheese in a pastry bag and add a squirt either in the indention of the pear half, or on the sides.
- Serve immediately.