Chicories with Pear Vinaigrette, Parmesan & Pecans

It has now been not once, but TWICE that Otway in New York has served me the most delicious chicories dish of my life. And that’s how these chicories with pear vinaigrette came to be. I just had to eat them again.

Now, I’m not the kind to order salads at restaurants. I know they are going to be good, but they always feel like a menu afterthought to me. If I’m going out, I’m getting the crudo, y’know? But when chicories – those earthy, nutty, bitter greens – are in season? Sometimes I just can’t say no. The chicories I had at Otway had a sweet, but almost baking-spices-laden dressing, and the mountain of parmesan perfectly balanced out any sweetness from the dressing and any bitterness from the greens. It was heaven. And it was the best restaurant salad I ever had.

I think the reason this salad was so good is because it takes a special kind of love and care to perfectly balance out the bitterness in chicories. The dressing needs to be sweet, but not too sweet, and a little interesting so that the notes of radicchio don’t overwhelm everything. They nailed it at Otway, and I think this Chicories with Pear Vinaigrette, Parmesan & Pecans salad nails it, too.

This salad uses a unique blend of radicchio and red leaf lettuce, both tender, delicate lettuces, but if you sub them out for what you have, that’s totally fine, too. The pear dressing is made with grated pear, grated garlic, grated shallot and grated nutmeg. So let’s just say, you’ll need your microplane around.

But it’s worth it. This dressing is unlike any I’ve made before, and it has made this one of the best winter salads I’ve ever made.

What are chicories?

Chicories are a term rarely used in the vegetable world, because it’s a group of lettuce types, and that can get kind of confusing. So a lot of people aren’t even sure what chicories are!

To put it in simple terms: chicories are cool weather crops and include lettuces like Belgian endive, curly endive, escarole and radicchio. They have a bitter flavor to them, but pair really well with things like sweet fruits, bright dressings or funky cheeses. I love chicories, I use them often.

What is the dressing like for these chicories with pear vinaigrette?

The pear dressing for this salad is interesting. Just like Otway’s, I wanted this dressing to have a bit of body, but not be too chunky or creamy. I decided that grated pear would serve as the sweetening and emulsifying agent, making the dressing thick, but still relatively smooth. The grated pear turns into a purée of sorts, but the good news is you don’t have to pull out a blender or mortar and pestle. The grating is one tool, takes a few seconds, and makes a really sweet, light and acidic dressing.

How to prepare this winter salad

Now that you know what to expect with the salad, here is how easy it is to prepare one of my favorite salads for the winter.

First, you’ll need to prep the dressing for these chicories with pear vinaigrette. You’ll want to do this in a large bowl so that you can add all the lettuce and toppings directly to it. That automatically gives you one less dish to clean. Halve the pear, reserving one half for later. Use a rasp-style grater and grate the other pear half into the bottom of the large bowl. The pear half should yield about 3-4 tablespoons of pear sauce.

Then you grate in the garlic cloves and the shallot to the bowl. Grate in the nutmeg, then add the honey, vinegar and oil and season with a few large pinches of salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Whisk the dressing together, taste, and season with more pear (taking from the remaining half, if needed), vinegar, oil and salt as preferred. I’ve noticed seasoning to taste is very important here, so don’t be afraid to taste and adjust a few times!

Thinly slice the remaining pear and set aside.

Reserve 6 pecan halves for later, and roughly chop the rest. In a medium pan over medium heat, toast the chopped nuts until they are fragrant, 3-4 minutes. Then core and slice the radicchio, and tear off the lettuce leaves. Clean and dry both very well. Dressing can’t stick to wet lettuce.

Add the lettuce to the bowl with the dressing and toss to coat. Add in the pear slices and pecans and toss again.

Portion onto six plates, and finish with a generous grating of parmesan over each salad. Use the reserved pecan halves and grate each one over the parmesan for each salad. It might seem like a small tweak, but it’ll make all the difference!

Looking for similar recipes?

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Watch the recipe here

The video may not fully represent the recipe. For best results, follow the instructions as written.