Pear, Parma ham and blue cheese salad

I’m not an ‘order a salad in a restaurant’ kind of a girl. I rarely buy one instead of a sarnie at lunch either – I’m just not into salads for mains. Sides, fine. But as my actual dinner? Naah. Unless said salad features fresh, earthy rocket, baked pears, Parma ham and crumbs of Yorkshire Blue. And maybe I’ll take lashings of honey on top…

Makes enough for 2 sides or 1 main

3 pears

6-8 slices of Parma ham

50g Stilton/Yorkshire Blue/Roquefort

A bag of mixed leaves/rocket/spinach – whatever tickles your salad fancy!

2 teaspoons of honey

2 teaspoons of melted butter

Pinch of salt and pepper

De-core your pears and cut in to eight chunks. Place in a bowl and pour in honey and butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and give a good mix. Now pop your pear pieces in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Chuck your leaves into a serving bowl and break your blue cheese in to uneven chunks. Bake your Parma ham in the oven for around 10 minutes – keep an eye on it, you want it to be firm and a deep pink with flecks of golden brown but not black. Allow to cool and then tear in to pieces.

Chuck your cooked pears and Parma ham in to the leaves and give a really good mix. Top with blue cheese et voila!

Psst… If you’re a piggy like me and my boyfriend (who lovingly went to retrieve some Yorkshire Blue at the last moment for me, thank you Alex!), serve this as a side with a chilli and garlic flavoured chicken breast atop a slice of ciabatta and pesto. Very yummy.