Honey-Roast Parsnip & Pear salad

with Blue Cheese Dressing

chapter 3 small courses
Photography by Jan Baldwin
Parsnips, pears and any blue cheese are a harmonious trio. This is an elegant winter salad which kicks off the meal in style. It’s well-balanced nutritionally, with the buttery macadamia nuts for extra protein, so it can also be a served as a light main course.

·  THINK AHEAD: The parsnips can be roasted and the dressing made 4 hours in advance. Pears can be cut an hour in advance and left in a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice. Assemble the salad just before serving.
·  SERVE WITH: Warm crusty bread
·  TOP TIP: To toast macadamia nuts, shake them around in a hot, dry frying pan until flecked with gold. If macadamias are not available, substitute hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts.
·  SERVINGS: 4

Ingredients
4 small parsnips, peeled and quartered into long pieces
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. honey
2 dessert pears, sliced into wedges
4 handfuls of wild rocket
75g / 3 oz. macadamia nuts, toasted
for the dressing:
150g / 5 oz. gorgonzola or other strong blue cheese
3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
125ml / 4 fl. oz. olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6. Place parsnips in a roasting tin and coat with oil. Drizzle with honey and season with salt and pepper. Roast until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool.
To make the dressing, mash gorgonzola in a bowl. Stir in vinegar and whisk in olive oil, with a little salt and pepper, until fairly smooth.
Arrange rocket on 4 plates and follow with pears, nuts and parsnips, then pour over the dressing. Finish with more pepper.