Serves 4-6

A fast and fabulous dessert that looks great on the plate, yet takes no more than 15 minutes to put together. It helps if you have a swivel vegetable peeler to peel the pears thinly and quickly. And,
of course, it also does the parmesan shavings. Serve this salad warm, so that the honey syrup remains runny and juicy.

4 large just ripe (but not too soft) pears - eg, Williams, Comice or Conference
4-6 tbsp caster sugar
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp clear honey
100g bag wild rocket
75g chunk fresh parmesan

1 Peel the pears. Then cut them into quarters and, using a small sharp knife, remove the cores.
2 Slice each quarter into two or three wedges. Put the sugar in a wide shallow bowl and toss the pears in the sugar one at a time so they are evenly coated. 3 Heat a large nonstick frying pan empty over a high heat and when you can feel a good heat rising lay the pears in the base in a single layer. Turn the heat
to medium.
4 Cook for about 3 minutes until the sugar coating begins to caramelise, then flip over each pear piece with a table knife and cook for a minute or so.
Sprinkle lightly with some water to loosen the sugar, which will have become a golden caramel.
5 Carefully stir in the lime juice and finally the honey. Remove the pan from the heat and divide the pears between four to six dessert plates, depending on your portion control.
6 Scatter each plate lightly with rocket leaves. Using the swivel peeler again, make thin shavings of parmesan directly on to each serving. Serve fresh and warm.

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