Roasted Pear And Manchego Salad Recipe
Salads evoke thoughts of long summer days, picnic blankets, and the warm sun beating down. It's not often that you find a salad that can be eaten any time of year, but this roasted pear and manchego salad truly is a salad for all seasons. The perfect mixture of light, fresh, warm, and filling, you can serve this dish just as easily on a hot summer evening or a cool winter day. It can be eaten as a starter, side dish, or main meal, and is a great, different option for a potluck dinner; you can't get much more versatile than that!
As any good salad should be, this roasted pear and manchego salad created by recipe developer Jennine Rye is quick and easy to throw together and packed full of flavor. The honey, mustard, and ginger salad dressing is perfectly balanced and pairs beautifully with the sharp, creamy manchego cheese, the slightly bitter lettuce leaves, and the caramelized, juicy pears.
Gather the ingredients for this roasted pear and manchego salad
To begin this roasted pear and manchego salad recipe, first you will need to gather the ingredients. You will need some ripe pears, honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, hazelnuts, lettuce, dried cranberries, and manchego cheese. To make the salad dressing you will additionally require Dijon mustard, grated ginger, and salt and pepper.
Manchego is a delicious semi-hard type of cheese from Spain with a mild sharpness that pairs beautifully with sweet honey flavors, nuts, and fruits, making it ideal for this salad. If you cannot find manchego cheese, you can replace it with shavings of Parmesan or another similar semi-hard or hard cheese.
Roast the pears and hazelnuts
Roasting the pears enhances their delicious flavor, adding a subtle caramel taste to their sweetness while making them even juicier. If you like raw pear, you will absolutely love it roasted. While you don't want your pears to be rock solid for this recipe, they shouldn't be ripe to the point of being mushy or else they will disintegrate when roasted.
To roast the pears, simply cut them into segments, then drizzle them with some olive oil, honey, and balsamic vinegar. Finish off with a sprinkling of pepper, and then place them into the oven for 20 minutes until they are turning golden brown. Remove them and set them aside to cool.
While the pears roast, you can also place the hazelnuts into the oven to toast for 10 minutes. Then, once they have cooled, roughly chop them.
Mix the dressing
The easiest way by far to make a salad dressing is by using a mason jar; it saves on washing up, takes seconds to mix up, and is already in a handy storage container so you can pour it out or place it into the fridge for later. Simply add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, grated ginger, and salt and pepper to the mason jar, screw on the lid, and give it a vigorous shake for 10 to 15 seconds to combine the ingredients. And you're done! Set the salad dressing aside because it's time to assemble the salad.
Assemble the salad
While it is possible to prepare the roasted pears, the hazelnuts, and the salad dressing ahead of time, you will want to wait until the last minute to assemble the salad so that all the ingredients are fresh. There's nothing worse than a salad with limp, soggy lettuce leaves.
To assemble the salad, use a large bowl or a serving platter and spread out the lettuce leaves. Place the roasted pears on top, and then scatter over the roasted, chopped hazelnuts and the dried cranberries. Finish the salad by scattering over the manchego shavings, and then drizzling over the honey, mustard, and ginger dressing. This salad is extra delicious served along with some warm crusty bread, fresh from the oven.
- 3 ripe pears, sliced
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 3 ½ tablespoons honey, divided
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
- ⅓ cup hazelnuts
- 2 ½ bitter lettuce leaves
- 3 tablespoons dried cranberries
- ½ cup manchego shavings
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon finely grated ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper, plus extra to taste
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and slice the pears into segments. Arrange the segments on a baking tray, and drizzle them with 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and a pinch or two of ground pepper, to taste. Place the pears into the preheated oven and allow them to bake for roughly 20 minutes until they are golden.
- Meanwhile, place the hazelnuts into a clean baking tray. Place them into the oven for 8 to 10 minutes to toast and remove when they begin to turn brown and smell fragrant. Set aside to cool.
- To make the salad dressing, combine the remaining ½ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 ½ tablespoons honey, the finely grated ginger, and the salt and pepper, to a sealable mason jar. Place the lid on the jar and shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- To assemble the salad, place the lettuce into a large bowl or platter and then place the roasted, cooled pears on top of the lettuce leaves.
- Roughly chop the toasted hazelnuts and sprinkle them on top, along with the dried cranberries. Drizzle the salad with the finished salad sauce, and sprinkle the shavings of manchego on top of the salad just before serving.
| Calories per Serving | 568 |
| Total Fat | 42.6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7.9 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 17.3 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 46.3 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 6.0 g |
| Total Sugars | 35.5 g |
| Sodium | 380.8 mg |
| Protein | 6.1 g |
