After eating this salad, I wondered why I had never grilled pears before now, grilled pear and crispy prosciutto salad. The sweet pears, crispy prosciutto, tangy goat cheese and toasted pecans, make for the perfect salad bite.
Pears are usually sold under-ripe, which is great for this recipe. If you try and grill ripe pears they will flop and fall apart. Anjous pears that are still firm are the perfect type for grilling, but not all supermarkets carry all varieties so any firm pear that you can find is perfect.
When I was making the dressing for this salad, it occurred to me that it would be perfect to brush onto the pears before grilling, and let me tell you, when that balsamic vinegar caramelizes with the pears, it’s perfection.
Grilled pear and crispy prosciutto salad
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
20 mins
Course: Salad
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons light agave nectar or honey
- 1/4 teaspoon grated ginger
- Small pinch of salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 4 slices Prosciutto di Parma
- 4 firm pears of your choice sliced 1/8 inch thick
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- Salad greens of your choice I used baby spinach and arugula
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl combine the lime, balsamic vinegar, agave or honey, ginger, salt and pepper.
- Whisk in the olive oil. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a small sauté pan, add the pecans.
- Toast the pecans over medium low heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes per side.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the prosciutto slices evenly spaced.
- Bake in the oven for 5 minutes or until crispy, remove and allow to cool on baking sheet.
- Preheat a grill pan over medium high heat.
- Brush both sides of the pear slices with the salad dressing.
- Grill the pears for 2 minutes on each side, remove and set aside and allow to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl add the salad greens and toss with the salad dressing, reserving some to add later.
- Divide the greens amongst 4 dishes.
- Divide the pecans between the 4 dishes.
- Arrange the cooled pear slices on the salad and top with the goat cheese.
- Crumble the prosciutto in your hands and sprinkle over the salads.
- Top with more dressing if needed.
This looks and sounds absolutely wonderful! You basically had me at goat cheese and prosciutto! lol
What a gorgeous salad! This is perfect for a summer meal. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Love this salad! We grilled peaches for a similar salad last summer, now I know it can be done with other succulent fruits as well. Thanks for sharing this beauty!
Wow, I’m definitely going to grill my fruit and prosciutto for this delicious summer salad. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe. I’m getting hungry just thinking about making this.
What an amazing salad! So fresh and flavorful! I love the grilled pears! I must try this when my pears are ripe!
What a beautiful summer salad! We love grilling pears! Thank you for another wonderful dish!
Beautiful salad: healthy, tasty… I will definetely give it a try!
This looks so delicious! Pears is one of Grumpy’s favs and I absolutely love the pecans in this and the grilled pear is something I have never had but looking at it, definitely want to try also!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful blog post at #theWeekend Social! We enjoyed it! I look forward to seeing you next week at The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch Blog!
Have a great day!
Heidy L. McCallum
Yum! This looks so good. Thanks for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I have pinned to the Bloggers Brags broad.
Featuring this on Monday at Bloggers Brags!