Jazzed up arugula salad
My dad and my sister have birthdays just days apart and this year, we all celebrated at my house. One of my gifts to each of them was for them to send me a menu of whatever they wanted me to make, from the appetizer to the dessert (can you say foodie family?). I'm sure I'll be sharing many of the recipes I made here on Mangia - the first one I'll start with is my dad's appetizer.
If you know my dad, you know that he is borderline obsessed with arugula - I have no problem with that, I love the spicy greens. I decided to jazz up the salad a little bit with vanilla roasted pears, pomegranate vinaigrette, and warmed goat cheese. Because, why not? The pears can be made a few days ahead of time and kept in the fridge plus I made the vinaigrette before prepping the rest of the dinner and just left it out at room temp. Just a quick whisk before serving and it's all set.
I must say, the pears were the highlight of the salad - they are extremely versatile and would be great atop ice cream, mixed into morning granola, or just eaten plain. I hope you enjoy the appetizer as much as we did, and stay tuned for the rest of his meal - roasted rosemary fingerling potatoes, spiced rack of lamb with plum sauce, and icebox cake.
Jazzed up arugula salad
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, Food Network, and Food52
Level: Easy
Serves: 6
Time: About two hours (but you can do most ahead of time)
Ingredients
Vanilla roasted pears
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
1 1/2 pounds slightly under ripe, medium sized pears (was 3 for me)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract (use homemade! I've got you covered)
Drizzle of vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut up into small pieces
Pomegranate vinaigrette
1 large shallot, halved and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
Warm goat cheese
Half an 11 ounce log plain goat cheese (or a smaller log that you use all of)
1 egg white, beaten with half a tablespoon of water
Panko bread crumbs (about half a cup or so)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Arugula
Directions
Make the roasted pears:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise with a sharp knife; scrape out the seeds from one of the halves and save the other one for another recipe (or you know, double this one because it's that good). Place the sugar into a small bowl and stir in the scraped vanilla seeds.
Peel the pears, halve them through the stem and remove the cores. Arrange the pears cut side up in a large baking dish. Drizzle the lemon juice over the pears and then sprinkle them with the sugar/vanilla bean seed mixture.
Cut the vanilla pod in half again lengthwise and nestle them among the pears. Pour the water, vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste into the dish. Dot each of the pears with some butter and roast the pears for 30 minutes, brushing them every now and then with the pan juices.
Turn the pears over and continue roasting, basting a couple times, until the pears are tender and caramelized (test for doneness by poking a paring knife into the center of the pear). This took me 40 minutes but the original recipe said 25-30 so check yours earlier.
Make the dressing:
In a small bowl, combine the shallot, pomegranate molasses, vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk together until the salt has dissolved.
Whisk in the olive oil and let stand at room temp until you're serving the salad (whisk it one last time before you bring it to the table).
Make the warm goat cheese:
Slice the log of goat cheese into 6 pieces (I used a cheese slicer which has a metal floss like end - a knife might squish it too much). Dip each slice into the mix of egg white and water, then into the panko. Place the slices onto a plate and chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.
Melt the olive oil and butter into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until it's about to smoke. Cook the goat cheese slices for about 1-2 minutes per side - you want them browned on each side but not too melted that they start oozing out.
Fill bowls with arugula and top with one goat cheese round and one pear half that's been cut into slices.
Mangia!