Winter butternut and oven-baked pear salad with pomegranate rubies
Serves 6
This week Chef Niemand makes a lovely winter salad with butternut, pears and pomegranate. If you serve this salad with shaved roast fillet and chunks of homemade bread, it becomes a meal in itself.
| Ingredients | |
| 2 | medium butternuts (buy those with ‘long necks’ in order to get more ‘meat’) |
| 4 | pears |
| 50ml | olive oil |
| 2 | purple onions |
| 1 | pomegranate, use the rubies (break open and remove the rubies between the bitter, cream-coloured membranes) |
| Fresh Rocket leaves | |
| Feta cheese or shaved parmesan slivers | |
Method
- Bake the whole purple onions in the oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before carefully peeling and cutting both into quarters to form large petals.
- Peel the butternut and cut into large chunks.
- Prepare the pears (leave the skin on) by cutting them into quarters and removing the core.
- Arrange the butternut and quartered pears in separate oven trays, toss in olive oil and season the butternut with salt.
- Roast in the oven until tender but still firm.
- Add the onion petals to the butternut and roast for another 10 minutes.
- Toss the butternut, pears and onion together in a salad bowl, drizzle with pomegranate and balsamic reduction and top with some pomegranate rubies, rocket leaves and chunks of feta or parmesan shavings.
Chef’s TIP – You can also add fresh or tinned lychee to the salad.
Pomegranate and balsamic reduction
| Ingredients | |
| 2 | pomegranates |
| 75ml | balsamic vinegar |
| 50ml | brown sugar |
| 50ml | olive oil (good quality virgin oil) |
| Salt | |
Method
- Roll the pomegranates (with the beautiful red, thin leathery skin on) on a table to release the juice – in the same manner as you would with an orange or lemon.
- Open the pomegranate (over a deep kitchen bowl!) and drain the brilliant sweet-tart red or purple juice into the bowl. You need more or less 125ml.
- Add the pomegranate juice, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar to a small saucepan and reduce over low heat to a light syrupy consistency.
- Season with salt and add the olive oil to the reduction to make pomegranate- balsamic vinaigrette.
Pomegranates have been cultivated since ancient times and new science has found surprising benefits for the legendary fruit. Research shows that eating more pomegranate you may slow aging, halt the spread of cancer and improve heart health. It is also loaded with nutrients (high in vitamin C and potassium) and has high levels of antioxidants.
