Pear and fennel salad with caraway and pecorino cheese

From an off-season salad  to a totally in season one, courtesy of Yotam Ottolenghi. It seems an odd combination of flavours, but they really go well together: the anise flavor of the fennel, sweetness of the pears, the saltiness of the cheese, the freshness of the lemon, the bitterness of the rucola…. It could well be one of the dishes of this Autumn (minus pecorino cheese, for a sensible calorie count).

Pear and fennel salad with caraway and pecorino (adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi’s column in The Guardian)

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 large fennel bulb, cut in half lengthways, then each half cut  sideways into 2mm slices
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1½ tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• Salt and black pepper
• 10g picked dill
• 75g rocket
• 3 medium ripe conference pears, peeled, quartered lengthways, cored and cut into 0.5cm wedges
• 60g pecorino, thinly shaved

 Method

Mix the lemon juice and vinegar in a large bowl. Add the fennel and leave to soften for about 45 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Put the oil, caraway, maple syrup, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and some black pepper into a small bowl, strain in the lemon and vinegar from the fennel bowl and stir well.

Add the dill, rocket, pear and pecorino to the fennel bowl, pour on the dressing, toss lightly and serve.