The only thing that needs any preparation to speak of is the dressing, but the pears do need to be ripe and juicy - comice are perfect for this - and the parmesan needs to be shaved from a fresh block (if you haven't got any to hand, a good strong cheese like stilton or feta will do very nicely indeed, but completely forget about using that dirty sock-flavoured sawdust sold in pots, laughingly labelled 'Freshly Grated Parmesan').



If you want to turn this from a starter into a main course just add some strips of dry-cured ham, smoked duck breast, or sauteed chicken livers.

Serves four

Ingredients: 2 ripe juicy comice pears 1 lemon 1 tblsp white wine vinegar salt 1 tsp grain mustard 6 tblsp walnut oil freshly ground black pepper handful roquette handful of fresh walnut halves, roughly crushed small block of fresh parmesan

Method: Peel and core the pears, then smear with a little lemon juice to prevent them turning brown.

Put the vinegar and a good pinch of salt in a screw-top jar and shake until the salt has desolved. Add the mustard and walnut oil, then shake again to emulsify - the emulsion will hold for ten minutes or so, but give it another jiggle just before you use it to dress the salad.

Assemble the salad: slice the pears lengthwise into thin segments and place them rustically on four serving plates along with the roquette, then scatter over the bruised walnuts. Drizzle with the vinaigrette.

Using a potato peeler, shave the parmesan over the salad, then 'dust' with a little ground black pepper.