Pear, Walnut & Blue Cheese Salad

When it comes to great tasting salad our pear, walnut & blue cheese salad is right up there. Serve this flavourful salad as a starter or main.

I love a salad any time of the year and our pear, walnut & blue cheese salad features the fresh, sweetness of a pear with lightly spiced walnuts and creamy blue cheese. I've also added some tenderstem broccoli to this salad as it pairs beautifully with the blue cheese.

This pear and walnut salad with blue cheese makes a great dinner starter, packed full of flavour, but light enough to work alongside even the heartiest of main courses. I often serve a salad starter when I'm planning on a heavier main meal.

However this broccoli and blue cheese salad with pear can also be served as a main salad for two. I love serving salads like this as a main dish when you want to keep things light.

Why you'll love this recipe:

• The perfect balance of flavours the salty blue cheese pairs beautifully with the sweet fresh and sour pickled pears and lightly spiced walnuts.
• Feeding a crowd, no problem, this salad recipe can be easily doubled up depending on numbers.
• This versatile pear, walnut and blue cheese salad can feed 2 as a salad main or 4 as a salad starter or side dish.
• Gluten free and low carb making this a great healthy meal option.

How to make Pear, Walnut & Blue Cheese Salad

• Preheat the oven to 160CFan/140C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place the egg white into a bowl and give a quick whisk to fluff up.
• Add the spices, salt and sugar and give everything a good mix to form a paste.
• Now add the walnuts and stir well so that the nuts are completely covered in the spice mixture.

• Pour the walnuts onto the baking sheet, spreading out in a single layer and place the tray in the oven.
• Roast the walnuts for 10 minutes then remove from the oven and give them a quick stir.
• Return the tray to the oven for another 5 minutes then remove from the oven and set the tray on a wire rack to cool completely.

• Peel 2 of the pears and cut into 1cm cubes.
• In a small bowl mix the sugar and apple cider vinegar together until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the diced pear and stir through.
• Cover the bowl with a lid and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

• Place all the ingredients for the salad dressing into a jar and season to taste. Screw the lid onto the jar and give the jar a good shake to form a salad dressing. Set the salad dressing aside in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

When ready to serve the pear, walnut & blue cheese salad

• Place a pan of salted water onto the stove and bring to the boil. Add the broccoli stems and boil for 5 minutes until the stalks have become tender. Drain and set to the side.

• Prepare the pear just before serving otherwise it will oxidise and turn brown.
• Cut the pear in half, remove and discard the core.
• Now slice the pear thinly.

• Place the salad leaves into a bowl with the pear and broccoli and dress with the salad dressing.
• Divide the salad equally between 4 plates (if serving as a starter - 2 plates if serving as a salad main).
• Top with the pickled pear and scatter over the spiced walnuts.
• Finally break the blue cheese into small pieces and divide between each of the dishes. Serve immediately.

Recipe substitutions and variations

Salad

• Pears add a lovely freshness to this simple salad. We have used Williams Pears but you can use a Conference Pear or any other variety of pear that you enjoy eating. We have used both fresh and pickled pear in the dish to add depth of flavour. This is entirely optional and if you prefer you can just go with fresh pair. The flavours in this salad would work equally well with apple.
• Walnuts the walnuts have been lightly spiced with warm winter spices, in this case just a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Don't be too heavy handed with the spices as you want the flavour of the walnut to shine through. If you don't like the walnuts you could also substitute with pecans. Spicing the walnuts adds flavour to the finished salad however you can leave the walnuts raw if you rather.
• Blue Cheese look for a soft blue cheese, something like a Gorgonzola or Roquefort. You can also use a harder cheese, like a Blue Stilton, but our preference is a softer blue cheese.
• Tenderstem Broccoli replace with regular broccoli florets, romanesco broccoli or roasted butternut squash. Just adjust cooking times accordingly.
• Mixed Salad Leaves form the base of this salad. Use any variety of mixed leaves that you enjoy eating.

Salad Dressing

• Apple Cider Vinegar is used in the salad dressing but you could substitute with white or red wine vinegar.
• Sunflower Oil forms the base of the dressing, you could also use olive oil or rapeseed oil.
• Dijon Mustard is also used in the salad dressing for depth of flavour. You can also use wholegrain mustard, however English mustard is too strong and would overpower the other ingredients.

Pear and blue cheese salad dressing

When it comes to dressing this pear and walnut salad with blue cheese, I like to keep the salad dressing simple. As the blue cheese is rich, the pears pickled and the walnut spiced, it makes sense to go with a classic French style vinaigrette dressing. This simple French dressing coats the salad leaves and broccoli but in no way overpowers the rest of the ingredients in the dish.

What to serve with pear and blue cheese salad

This pear and walnut salad with blue cheese serves 4 as a starter or generous side salad and 2 as a main course. I like to serve salads as a simple starter when I am planning to serve a heavier main course.

Served as a side salad, this pear and blue cheese salad works great with a simple steak or pan fried chicken dish. It also works a treat alongside our Twice Baked Cheese Souffles for a light lunch or dinner main.

Can Pear, Walnut & Blue Cheese Salad be made ahead?

Elements of this dish can be prepared ahead of time. For example roast the spice walnuts and once cooled, store in an airtight container on the kitchen counter until you are ready to plate up. These an be made 2-3 days ahead of when you need them.

The pickled pears can be made earlier in the day as they need to sit for at least 2 hours in the fridge. Note, this is a quick pickle so is best made the day you plan to eat the salad otherwise the pear will start to break down.

Likewise you can cut up the blue cheese and make the salad dressing earlier in the day and store it in the fridge.

However, the broccoli is best cooked just before serving, so that it retains that vibrant green colour when being served. Likewise, the fresh pear should be cut up just before serving to stop it from oxidising.

Useful hints and tips

1. Pears oxidise (turn brown) really quickly which, whilst doing no harm, isn't very appetizing. So for that reason only cut and prepare the pears just before serving, so that they are at their freshest.
2. Vegetarian: to make this dish suitable for vegetarian diners, replace the Gorgonzola blue cheese with Stilton. Stilton cheese is almost always vegetarian, just make sure you check the labeling first, to ensure that it contains no rennet.
3. Egg allergy: when roasting the walnuts replace the egg white with a little sunflower oil instead.
4. Allergy advice: gluten free, soya free and peanut free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

Pin the recipe

Additional recipe suggestions

If you like this recipe then try some of my other salad recipes:

• Roast Pumpkin Salad
• Peach & Burrata Salad with Candied Pecans
• Smoked Mackerel & Beetroot Salad
• Grilled Vegetables with Halloumi & Herb Dressing
• Ham, Fig & Blue Cheese Salad
• Chicken & Asparagus Salad
• Spicy Chickpea & Carrot Salad with Harissa Dressing

Love salad? Then head to my Best Salad Recipes post where you will find links to all our favourite salads in one place.