Pears, artichokes and pecan salad

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A fresh salad on winter time... Why not? We got pears, raw artichokes, pecan nuts, flakes of pecorino cheese, a good citronette seasoning and a couple of tablespoons of eggless mayonnaise. 

This is an easy and very quick to made dish, rich and tasty and, above all, it does not require to turn on any stove. 

We recommend this salad as a starter or even it can be a good single dish to have for lunch or for breakfast. 

People use to have artichokes after boiling or frying them, but believe us: raw are delicious.
Clean the artichokes, remove the tougher leaves and hold just the inner, tender heart. 
Do not forget to have a lemon nearby: it is necessary to make a sort of "massage" of the artichokes. The acidity of the lemon preserve the colors of the vegetables (prevent oxidizing), so you will have an appetising dish. 
The pear taste exquisitely meets that one of the cheese, everybody knows it... even the taste of the artichoke is a joyful meeting with pears and cheese, especially if the fruit is not too much ripe. 
We chose a hard pecorino, but you can also switch for some Parmigiano or a semi-hard cheese, it's up to your taste or... what's in your pantry!
The crunchy role of this beautiful dish is played by the pecan nuts (if you do not have, use walnuts or hazelnuts...).
You can also serve this winter salad with some spoonful of eggless mayonnaise: it only needs 30 seconds to be made and it is really addictive! (click here to get the recipe)

Serves 2

• 1 pear
• 2 artichokes
• 2 lemons
• a small chunk of pecorino cheese (or other)
• handful of pecan nuts
• eggless mayonnaise (optional) 
• salt, black ground pepper, e.v.olive oil to taste 

Difficulty: very easy - Time: 15 minutes

Remove the outer, dark leaves of the artichokes. Cut the edges of the vegetables (about a pair of centimetres) and remove the inner "chokes" (hairy fibres in the center). Check the inner petals: if the have any prickly spine, cut off the edges. Rub half a lemon on each cleaned artichoke. 

Grab a small bowl, fill with some water and squeeze half a lemon inside. Cut the artichokes into thin strips and put them into the acidulated water.

Peel the pear and remove the core. Rub the pear with half a lemon to prevent oxidizing. Slice the pear lengthwise. Remember to rub lemon over every single slice.

Drain the artichokes slices, season with a bit of freshly ground black pepper and a citronnette sauce. Do you know how to make the citronnette sauce? Easy: place into a small bowl 4 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper. Beat to emulsionate. Use half of this sauce to season the artichokes. 

Place the seasoned artichokes in the middle of the serving dish (we helped ourselves with a pasta cutter). 

Place the pear slices around the artichokes, as you were making a sort of crown. Then come the pecan nuts. Squeeze the remaining citronnette onto the pears. Let some pecorino cheese flakes fall down on your gorgeous salad (use a sharp knife or a potato hand-cutter). If you want to turn this salad into an unbelievable dish serve with a pair of spoonful of eggless mayonnaise. 
Enjoy! 

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