Featuring a classic combination of flavors, this pear and blue cheese salad makes a captivating start to any meal. Beginning with a striking bed of radicchio is the key to both beauty and balance here. Gorgeous in color and practically silken in texture, heaps of freshly torn radicchio leaves provide a deliciously bitter backdrop against the fragrant sweetness of pears, tangy punch of blue cheese, and rich earthiness of hazelnuts. This dramatic, and nourishing, salad is always welcome when the weather turns cold.
Ingredients for Pear and Blue Cheese Salad
- radicchio
- pears
- blue cheese
- hazelnuts
- extra virgin olive oil
- white wine vinegar
- honey
- Dijon mustard
- kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Crumble the blue cheese into small pieces (and chop the hazelnuts, if preferred to leaving them whole).
Remove the outermost leaves of the radicchio (rinse briefly under cool water to remove any remaining dirt or debris), cut it in half, and remove the core. Then tear the radicchio into pieces.
Halve and core each pear. Then cut lengthwise into thin slices.
Combine the torn radicchio and sliced pear in a large bowl.
Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and honey together until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat.
Sprinkle the blue cheese and hazelnuts generously over the top and serve.
Variations
- The Radicchio - The sharp bitterness of radicchio pairs wonderfully with the sweetness of pears here. But if you find the flavor too strong, you can combine the radicchio with milder greens or simply substitute with your favorite salad mix all together.
- The Pears - The pears pictured here are Morettini, since that is what I happened to have on hand when the inspiration for this salad struck. But any mildly sweet variety would make an excellent choice for this salad, such as Bartlett, Comice, Concorde, or Green Anjou. Go with something in a classic shade of green and gold to contrast against all that radicchio.
- The Blue Cheese - When it comes to choosing a specific variety of blue cheese for this salad, almost any blue will do...just make sure that it is firm enough to crumble.
- The Hazelnuts - Pecans or walnuts are delicious alternatives to the hazelnuts in this salad.
Related
Looking for other tempting salad recipes or accompaniments? Try these:
📖 Recipe
Pear and Blue Cheese Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 medium head radicchio torn into pieces
- 2 small to medium pears (firm, but ripe) thinly sliced lengthwise
- about 4 ounces blue cheese crumbled
- about 4 ounces hazelnuts (raw or toasted) whole or roughly chopped
Dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Crumble the blue cheese into small pieces (and chop the hazelnuts, if preferred to leaving them whole).
- Remove the outermost leaves of the radicchio (rinse briefly under cool water to remove any remaining dirt or debris), cut it in half, and remove the core. Then tear the radicchio into pieces.
- Halve and core each pear. Then cut lengthwise into thin slices.
- Combine the torn radicchio and sliced pear in a large bowl.
- Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and honey together until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
- Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat.
- Sprinkle the blue cheese and hazelnuts generously over the top and serve.
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