Pickled pear, hazelnut, chickpea, quinoa and blue cheese salad
Pears and blue cheese are a classic combination, but here you need a relatively firm, yet ripe, flavoursome variety of pear, such as Williams or Conference, which can stand up to being cooked and pickled. You could use a creamy blue, such as Stichelton, Barkham Blue and of course Stilton instead, though ours will have a more crumbly texture. In autumn and winter on the farm, the fresh pears that come in from the orchards go beautifully with our Daylesford Blue cheese from the creamery.
See more recipes from the Daylesford cookbook.
A recipe from A Love For Food:Recipes from the Fields and Kitchens of Daylesford Farm by Carole Bamford (Square Peg).
Ingredients
Serves 6
Ingredients
For the pickled pears:
Method
Step 1
Soak the chickpeas in water overnight, then rinse and drain. Half fill a medium pan with water, add the chickpeas and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook
Step 2
for 40 minutes, or until tender. Drain and transfer to a large bowl to cool.
Step 3
Half fill a medium pan with water and bring to the boil, then add the quinoa and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to stand for 5
Step 4
minutes. Drain and transfer to a separate bowl to cool.
Step 5
While the pulses are cooking and cooling, put the pears into a small pan with the sugar, vinegar, chilli and 800ml of water – the liquid should cover the pears. Bring to the boil, then
Step 6
turn down the heat and simmer gently for around 20 minutes, until the pears are tender.
Step 7
Leave to cool in their liquid, and once cool remove the stalks, cut in half, and remove the cores. Cut each half into 8 lengthways, to give 16 wedges in total.
Step 8
Add the quinoa to the bowl of chickpeas, along with the pieces of poached pear, the nuts and seeds, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, and parsley, and toss lightly. Taste and season as necessary, then tumble on to a large serving platter. Cut the cheese into rough cubes, dot over the salad, then fold them in very lightly, taking care not to break up the cheese too much, and serve.
