A starter of warm baked goats cheese with a pear and rocket salad

Baked Goats Cheese with Pear and Rocket Salad Recipe

30 Minutes
Serves: 2

A creamy baked goat's cheese starter with thick slices of cheese placed on lightly toasted discs of ciabatta bread served with a pear and rocket salad drizzled with a honey, mustard and balsamic dressing

Recipe Ingreds

Salad

  • black pepper (to taste)
  • 10 grams butter
  • 20 grams hazelnuts
  • 2 whole pears
  • 20 grams rocket leaves
  • salt (to taste)
  • 10 grams caster sugar
  • 1 whole goats cheese log
  • 6 slices ciabatta bread
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Dressing

  • 3 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • black pepper (to taste)
  • 0.5 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 0.5 tbsp honey
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt (to taste)

Recipe with pictures Steps

Step 1

  • set the oven to 190C 375F or gas mark 5
  • cut the pears into quarters and then slices
  • place in the frying pan
  • with the butter and a spot of oil
  • cook for 5 mins
  • add the sugar
  • cook till the pears are caramelised
  • keep warm

Step 2

  • place the nuts on a baking tray
  • place in the oven
  • cook for 5 minutes
  • remove the nuts from the oven
  • wrap in a clean tea towel
  • rub the nuts to remove the skin
  • roughly chop the hazelnuts

Step 3

  • cut the goats cheese into slices
  • using a 7cm circular pastry cutter, cut circles, from the bread
  • lightly coat the bread with olive oil
  • place on the baking tray
  • season with salt and pepper

Step 4

  • heat the grill
  • place the bread circles under the grill
  • toast each side till golden brown

Step 5

  • grill till golden brown
  • place the cheese slices on the toasted bread
  • sprinkle with chopped nuts

Step 6

  • mix the dressing ingredients together

Step 7

  • place the rocket and pears in a bowl
  • add the dressing

Step 8

  • place the salad on a plate
  • Add three of the goats cheese bread discs to each plate
  • serve immediately

Recipe Utensils

  • 1 baking tray
  • 1 chopping board
  • 1 frying pan
  • 1 large knife
  • 1 pastry cutter 7cm
  • 1 small bowl
  • 1 tea towel

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About our easy Goat's cheese Starter

Indulge in the savoury elegance of this exquisite French-inspired appetiser, where creamy goat's cheese meets the sweet allure of caramelized pears, creating a delicious harmony of flavours. Perfectly balanced and irresistibly tasty. In this recipe, succulent pears are delicately caramelized to perfection, offering a tantalizing contrast to the richness of cheese. The addition of toasted hazelnuts adds a delightful crunch, while a bed of peppery rocket leaves and a zesty vinaigrette tie the elements together for a truly gourmet experience.

How to make creamy goat's cheese with caramelised pear and rocket salad

Lightly caramelise the sliced pears in a frying pan with a little butter and sugar, set aside. Bake the hazelnuts in the oven, remove the skins and then chop. Slice the goats cheese log and using a pastry cutter cut out circles in the sourdough bread. Lightly coat the bread in oil and grill till crispy and golden brown. Place the cheese on the bread circles, sprinkle with chopped nuts and grill till the cheese is bubbling and golden. Make the vinaigrette by mixing the vinegar, mustard, honey and olive oil, season to taste. Place the rocket, pears and warm cheese circles on a plate and drizzle with the dressing

French goat's cheese salad appetiser ingredients 

This recipe has a few simple ingredients all readily available from your local supermarket

Goat's cheese  - a cheese log is perfect for this recipe as it is full of flavour, but if you cant get a log spreadable goat's cheese is fine 

salad leaves - for this salad we use rocket leaves as they give a spicy earthy taste to the recipe

balsamic vinegar - adds the acidity needed to compliment the cheese

hazelnuts - we use hazelnuts for the recipe but if your not a fan then you can choose a different nut walnuts work well 

ciabatta bread - you can use any bread that toasts well any sourdough bread will work well 

pears -provide the sweet element any variety will do but the sweeter varieties are probably better

When to cook our warm goat cheese, rocket and pear starter

This warm salad is the perfect all year-round starter and is a twist on a classic French dish, it can be used for a sophisticated dinner party or a dinner with friends and family. It can be served as part of a summer or winter dinner event. This dish is also perfect for a light brunch menu. Its suitable for vegetarians and makes an impressive vegetarian appetizer. It is ideal for a dinner with friends or a romantic meal for two, perfect for beginners as it’s so easy to make.

Goat's cheese starter for your French dinner party 

This recipe is ideal for a French themed dinner party, It makes the perfect appetizer for any event, All the elements can be made ahead of time and then the salad can be put together last minute making it super quick and simple to make. It can be served all year round and makes a great Christmas starter. We use this appetizer for our casual dinner menu perfect for a summer dinner with friends or family. The main course is chicken goujon wraps with a vegetarian main of courgette fritter wraps and dessert is strawberry mille-feuille 

Why our easy goat's cheese and pear starter with rocket is the best?

The recipe combines the traditional pairing of goat's cheese and rocket or arugula. These two ingredients go together perfectly as the peppery taste of rocket cuts through the rich creamy taste of the goat’s cheese. Sweetness is added to the dish by the addition of caramelised pears, and the crunch for the salad is added by the toasted hazelnuts and bread

Flavour profile

This classic starter has it all, crunch from the nuts and ciabatta bread, sweetness from the pears, creaminess from the cheese and a hit of acidity the balsamic vinegar dressing

Tweak our goat's cheese salad recipe

The dish can be tweaked easily to provide different variations

  • swap the hazelnuts for walnuts to create a goat’s cheese and walnut salad
  • swap the goats cheese for blue cheese
  • swap the goats cheese for brie and sprinkle with crushed almonds

More cheese starter recipes

Spinach and Feta Filo Parcel with Tzatzki

Mozzarella Sticks with Rich Tomato Sauce

Baked Maple Camembert with garlic and Rosemary

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