Photo: Unsplash
Ingredients:
Salad:
4-5 Belgian Endives
About 3 cups salad greens: spinach / arugula / red leaf lettuce
3-4 large Bosc pears, firm but ripe
2-3 T. honey
1 T. fresh thyme
Salt & pepper
½ small red onion, sliced thin
4 oz. Goat cheese
About 1 cup walnuts/pecans, toasted
Garnish: shaved radicchio, fresh chives
Vinaigrette:
1 t. shallot, minced
2 T. champagne vinegar
Fresh orange juice, to taste
Honey, to taste
About 6 T. Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 400°. Slice pears and lay out on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Drizzle pears with honey, and top with thyme leaves, salt & pepper. Bake until tender, about 15 minutes. When cool, slice or chop.
Meanwhile, prepare the endive: Cut about ½ inch off the bottom and allow leaves to separate. Continue cutting and separating until leaves are detached. Wash and lay out on a towel to dry.
Make vinaigrette: combine shallot, vinegar, orange juice, honey and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle in olive oil while whisking. Set aside.
Thinly slice salad greens so it looks like confetti (chiffonade). Add onions. Toss a little vinaigrette with the salad.
Build the appetizers: put some salad into the endive, top with roasted pears, toasted nuts and crumbled goat cheese. Grind some black pepper on top of the cheese and garnish with herbs or radicchio.
Makes about 32-40 appetizers.
Other filling ideas:
- Roasted beets + pine nuts/walnuts + ricotta/gorgonzola + balsamic vinaigrette
- Orange segments + walnuts + goat cheese + black pepper + citrus vinaigrette
- Apples + pecans/walnuts + gouda/gorgonzola + white balsamic / apple cider vinaigrette
- Celery + lemon vinaigrette + pistachios + Parmesan/Pecorino
