Honeybush-Poached Pear & Biltong Salad

Ingredients:

• Dressing & Marinated Biltong:
• 2 Tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 cup olive oil
• 5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 70 g treacle sugar
• 200 g moist biltong, thinly sliced
• Poached Pears:
• 3 cups white wine
• 2 honeybush teabags
• 200 g sugar
• 1 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 peppercorns
• 5 cloves
• 4 pears, peeled
• 60 g walnuts, crushed
• 1 Tbsp biltong powder
• 120 g Gorgonzola cheese
• 1 Tbsp caster sugar
• Salad:
• 20 g baby spinach leaves, shredded
• 60 g walnuts, roasted and salted
• 20 g microgreens
• 1 Tbsp biltong powder (to garnish)

Instructions:

1. Prepare Dressing & Marinate Biltong:
   In a jar, combine mustard, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and treacle sugar. Shake well, pour over sliced biltong, and set aside.
2. Poach Pears:
   In a saucepan, combine wine, honeybush teabags, sugar, spices, and pears. Simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes. Remove pears and reduce the poaching liquid to a light syrup. Once reduced, return pears to the syrup and let cool. Core pears from the bottom.
3. Fill & Bake Pears:
   Preheat oven to 180°C. Mix crushed walnuts with biltong powder. Fill each pear with Gorgonzola and seal the bottom with walnut mixture. Place on a nonstick tray and bake for 15–20 minutes until cheese melts. Sprinkle pears with caster sugar and caramelize with a blowtorch.
4. Assemble Salad:
   On a platter, arrange marinated biltong, baby spinach, roasted walnuts, and microgreens. Drizzle with 4 Tbsp of the biltong marinade. Place pears on top, sprinkle with biltong powder, and serve.

Serves 4

Recipe Credit: Woolworths Taste:  https://taste.co.za/recipes/