Bready, Steady, Go!

Insalata di Straccetti di Pane, Pera, Miele & Formaggiu Blu

Pizza Bread, Rocket, Pear and Blue Cheese Salad with Honey

I love managing to come up with meals, using basically the scraps that I have left over in my fridge- it is just very, very cool as well as being sensible, to use the produce that you have responsibly. And it is fun! This main part of this salad dish is indeed made of scraps of pizza dough from the other day- and the word "straccetti", literally means "rags" or "scraps" in Italian... how very fitting indeed!

Together with blue cheese and pear of course, this makes for a classic combination but in a fun, new way. The best thing is that the dough can be "baked" in your frying pan and that this can be made wonderfully fresh in just 15 minutes! So... what are you waiting for? Let's get started!

So- it really couldn't be easier... all that you need to do, is to tear the pizza dough into small, bite-sized chunks and to flatten it out with the ball of your thumb. Squash it down and then simply place it into a dry frying pan... it will soon begin to bake and change color. Flip the pieces of dough over as soon as they have become firm enough and brown both sides gently. Don't add any oil at this point... first let them "bake"- and then as soon as they are lightly brown, add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan, a crushed clove of garlic and a little rosemary... just to perfume it nicely- and add a sprinkle of sea salt and a little pepper.

The rest is pretty easy- it is just assembly work! Layer up your salad with rocket leaves, the bread pieces (as soon as they are cool!), slices of pear and thinly sliced Spring onion. I put the onion slices into the pan as soon as I removed the bread and let them take-in the residual heat... this makes the onion soften a little, but also lose its harshness... a clever trick! It just makes for a "smoother" combination alongside the blue cheese, which is already very strong flavored.

I seasoned the salad further with some smoked paprika flakes, a drizzle of olive oil, a little squeezed lemon zest and a drizzle of honey. A little balsamic glaze will give it that extra kick and you can be sure that the combination of sweet, savory and crunchy will be terrific! Give it a go... or you will never know ;-) !