pears Archives

Christmas dessert

Pear and lemon paste

45 minutes

Blue cheese, bulgur, quinoa and herb croquettes

Serves 6

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cooking Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

250 g bulgur wheat, prepared according to package instructions
1 free-range egg
30 g Parmesan, finely grated
30 g cooked red quinoa
30 g cooked white quinoa
10 g parsley, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 thumb-tip-sized balls of blue cheese
Sunflower oil, for deep-frying
Wild rocket, for serving

For the pickled pears:

½ cup white wine vinegar
1 cup hanepoot
½ cup water
80 g sugar
2 g saffron (optional)
6 pears, peeled

For the bean and pecan nut salsa, mix:

80 g cooked black-eyed beans
40 g blanched raisins
60 g pecan nuts, diced
5 T olive oil
Juice of ¼ lemon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the Parmesan dressing:

2 T white wine vinegar
½ t fresh rosemary, chopped
1 free-range egg yolk
1 T Dijon mustard
40 g Parmesan
1¼ cups olive oil
Sea salt, to taste

Method

Add the egg and Parmesan to the soaked bulgur wheat and beat vigorously using a wooden spoon. Add both the quinoas and the parsley and continue beating. Season to taste.

Scoop ½ cup of the mixture onto a sheet of cling film. Top with another sheet of cling film and roll the dough to form a disc of approximately 10 cm in diameter.

Remove the top layer of cling film, place a blue cheese ball in the centre of the disc and gather up the sides. Squeeze it together to form a neat parcel. Repeat with the remaining quinoa mixture and blue cheese.

Deep-fry the croquettes in 180°C oil until golden, then drain on kitchen paper.

Break open a couple of the croquettes, allowing the cheesy centres to ooze out; leave the rest whole. Arrange on a plate alongside slices of pickled pear and a few leaves of wild rocket.

Drizzle with the salsa and dressing and serve immediately.

To make the pickled pears, place the vinegar, hanepoot, water, sugar and saffron, if using, in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Add the pears, reduce the heat and poach for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they can be easily pricked with a knife. Allow to cool, then slice and remove the cores.

To make the Parmesan dressing, place the vinegar, rosemary, egg yolk, mustard and Parmesan in a jug blender and blend on a high speed.

With the blender running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream to create a creamy dressing. Season to taste with salt.

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Blue cheese, bulgur, quinoa and herb croquettes

Blue cheese, bulgur, quinoa and herb croquettes

Ingredients

Method