Roasted Pear & Radicchio Salad with Molasses Vinaigrette

A sweet and savory, warm salad to serve as a lunch or light dinner on a cold, winter day.

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Oven roasted Bosc pears sit on top caramelized grapes, bitter radicchio, toasted hazelnuts and sweet shallots with a drizzle of molasses vinaigrette.



Roasted Pear Raddicchio Salad
serves 2
roasted pears 
1 firm Bosc pear, halved lengthwise, cored
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp maple syrup
1/8 tsp dried thyme
pinch of salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 450. Coat the pears with olive oil, maple syrup and season with thyme, salt and pepper.
Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. Flip the pears over and roast 7-10 minutes more until golden brown and tender.

radicchio salad
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1 large bulb radicchio, cored, roughly chopped
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 cup halved green grapes
2 tbl raw hazelnuts, roughly chopped
salt, to taste

While the pears are roasting, saute the radicchio and shallot in olive oil until tender, 5 minutes. Add the grapes and hazelnuts and season with salt. Cook 5 more minutes until the grapes start to caramelize and the hazelnuts have toasted.
Serve the roasted pears on top the of the radicchio salad and drizzle with molasses vinaigrette.

Molasses Vinaigrette
2 tbl molasses (not blackstrap)
1 tbl champagne vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, smashed
1/8 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tbl extra virgin olive oil

Combine the molasses, vinegar, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper in a small blender and blend to combine. Slowly stream in the olive oil until the dressing has emulsified and taste to season with more salt and pepper.