Stephen Harris’ pear, walnut and roquefort salad

This is an early dish from The Sportsman that old customers and staff still talk about now,” says chef Stephen Harris. “It was based on a salad from Cafe Pasqual’s Cookbook (a restaurant in Santa Fe), which I got from my brief time cooking in a Mexican restaurant in Canterbury. They used pecan nuts, which I changed to walnuts, and the blue cheese became Roquefort.”

Pear, walnut and roquefort salad

Ingredients
(Serves 4)

50ml red wine
2tbsp caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
3 cloves
Pinch of chilli flakes
4 Conference or Bosc pears, peeled
1tbsp neutral oil
2tsp coffee liqueur (Tia Maria or Kahlúa)
2tsp smoked paprika
1tsp icing (powdered) sugar
Small handful of walnut halves
1 romaine lettuce
200g Roquefort
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. First, poach the pears. Put the wine, sugar, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves and chilli flakes into a saucepan and add the pears. Ensure the pears are totally submerged in the wine by placing a circle of baking parchment on top and then weighing them down with a plate. Poach gently over a low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the pears are soft – check them with a sharp knife.

2. Once cooked, remove the pan from the heat and allow the pears to cool in the poaching liquid, then strain the poaching liquid into a clean saucepan. Boil the poaching liquid to reduce it until it is the consistency of a syrup. This will make about 200ml syrup.

3. Next, make the walnuts. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (400°F).

4. Put the oil, coffee liqueur, paprika and icing sugar into a bowl and mix together. Add the walnuts and toss to coat, then spread the nuts onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 30 minutes. Check and stir them regularly so they don’t burn. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

5. Slice the cooled pears lengthways on a mandoline.

6. Put the large lettuce leaves on each plate, then toss the leaves with a mixture of the pears, walnuts and Roquefort. Drizzle the poaching syrup around the salad, then sprinkle the salad with a pinch of salt and a twist of black pepper.

The Sportsman at Home by Stephen Harris is published in hardback by Quadrille, priced £30. Photography by Kim Lightbody. Available now.