Warm goat’s cheese with pear and lentils

This warm goat’s cheese with pear and lentils is ideal for vegetarians. There are many varieties of goat’s cheese, but when baking it in the oven this way, the best one to use is a “chèvre” type, as it has a rind around it holding it together. Always make sure your oven is fully preheated before putting the cheese in, so it gets good colour quickly and doesn’t melt completely.

This dish works well with a classic French vinaigrette dressing.

Ingredients (serves 4)

400g puy lentils

400g firm goat’s cheese

Extra-virgin olive oil

2 ripe pears

60g sultanas

1 bulb chicory

Few flat-leaf parsley leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the classic French vinaigrette dressing:

100ml groundnut (peanut) oil

1tsp dijon mustard

50ml white wine vinegar

100ml olive oil

Salt and black pepper

Method

Put the lentils in a large pan, cover with plenty of water, bring to the boil and cook for 10–15 minutes, or until they are just soft. Drain and rinse under hot running water.

Preheat the grill to medium-high. Keep the goat’s cheese rounds whole, or if using a large round to share, cut the goat’s cheese into 1cm slices and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil and add a twist of black pepper then cook under the grill for five to eight minutes until browned.

Cut each pear lengthways into eight pieces, removing the core from each piece as you go.

Roughly chop the chicory, discarding the dense part at the root end and place in a bowl with all the ingredients except the cheese. Drizzle a little olive oil over and mix well.

Arrange the salad on serving plates with the warm goat’s cheese on top.

To make the dressing: slowly whisk the groundnut oil into the mustard until it is a thick emulsion. Whisk in the vinegar, then slowly whisk in the olive oil until it is all used. Whisk in 50ml water and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recipes and images courtesy of: Savage Salads: Fierce Flavours, Filling Power-Ups by Davide Del Gatto & Kristina Gustafson.

Foyles.co.uk (£16.99)