Roasted Salt and Pepper Pear, with Blue Cheese and Pecans Salad

Roasted salt and pepper pears are simply divine, matched here with a combination of greens, blue cheese and pecans makes a wonderful salad for this hot weather. You can use the Barbeque to roast the pears, as long as you put them in a suitable baking dish, and regulate the temperature so they don't get carmelized before cooking through.

Salt and Pepper Pears Salad. Convection Oven 350 degrees F

6 hard pears, red or white Anjou, seckle, Comice, Bartlett, or combination
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons white sugar
5 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 cups greens, arugula, romaine, Bibb lettuce, or combination of greens
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

4 ounces Gorgonzola, or other blue cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup roasted pecans
4-6 slices of prosciutto
2-4 fresh figs sliced in half

Peel and cut pears in half, using a watermelon baller, cut the core out. Set out cut side up on a roasting tray. Mix the salt, pepper, sugar in a small bowl, sprinkle on top of pears, turn over and sprinkle on back of pears, turn cut side up, then sprinkle with the vinegar, water, olive oil mixture. Roast pears for 25 minutes, remove tray from oven, turn over and sprinkle with 2-3 tablespoons of water, put back in oven for another 15 minutes, or until the pears are golden brown and tender, remove from oven.
On a cold plate, place the lettuce leaves, drizzle with the olive oil and salt and pepper, crumble the blue cheese over, and toss a few pecans, place figs, prosciutto and roasted pears on the plate, dress pears with the baking juices. Add a piece of crusty bread or make some garlic bread, delicious! Serves 2-3