Stichelton, pear and walnut salad

A perfect seasonal salad from Jeremy Lee’s gorgeous book Cooking to use the Christmas Stilton or as Jeremy suggests, Stichelton. I love the touch of using membrillo in it and, if you can get hold of it, quince vinegar.

Jeremy writes: "This pleasing salad is best in the winter months when walnuts, pears and Stilton are at their peak. It is worth keeping an eye out for interesting varieties of pears such as Passe-Crassane, so distinctive with their stalks topped with a drip of red wax.Colston Bassett is a pasteurised Stilton, the only Stilton permitted, and Stichelton is unpasteurised, and made from the last culture taken from the last unpasteurised Colston Bassett Stilton that was stored and preserved by Randolph Hodgson at Neal’s Yard Dairy.

Stichelton, pear and walnut salad

Feeds 6

2–3 ripe pears

1 soup spoon very good vinegar (you can get quince vinegar from the Vinegar Shed)

250g Stichelton or Colston Bassett Stilton or any good blue cheese

75g membrillo or quince cheese

100g walnuts, coarsely chopped

3 big handfuls of mixed leaves such as escarole, soft green lettuce, rocket, spinach, chicory or even watercress

3 soup spoons walnut oil

2 soup spoons extra virgin olive oil

Halve and core the pears, then slice thinly. In a big bowl, toss the pears in the vinegar to prevent discoloration. Crumble the Stichelton over the pears.

Cut the membrillo into small pieces and scatter over the Stichelton, then strew with the chopped walnuts. Add the leaves,a little salt and black pepper and the walnut and olive oils. Mix together, taste for seasoning and serve.

What to drink: So not port, for a start, even though it's Stilton! I'd be tempted by a rich white like a grenache gris or a white Côtes du Rhône. An amontillado sherry would also be rather delicious.

Extracted from Cooking Simply and Well, for One or Many by Jeremy Lee, published by Fourth Estate at £30.