food

Celery & Apple Salad With Roquefort Dressing

Roquefort is a soft, creamy blue cheese that is made of goat’s milk and originates from southern France. Diners and chefs alike tend to love this cheese. Combining hunks of the soft blue cheese with crunchy toasted walnuts, apple slices and celery sticks creates a salad that is varied in textures and tastes. We love this salad as a starter for dinner parties: it’s a delicious, impressive dish that is super easy to make. Replicate this restaurant-worthy presentation and your guests will fancy you as a bonafide Martha Stewart.

4 Servings

3 celery stalks, trimmed and peeled
1 Boston lettuce, outer leaves removed
1 Granny Smith apple
Squeeze of lemon juice
1 large chicory bulb, trimmed
2 oz. (60 g) Roquefort
Handful of toasted walnuts
3 1/2 oz. (100 g) Roquefort
2 to 3 tbsp (30 to 45 mL) boiling water
1/3 cup (75 mL) mayonnaise
Sea salt and finely grated white pepper

To make dressing, crumble Roquefort in a bowl; whisk in boiling water until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Stir in mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cut celery stalks in half lengthwise; then cut into 1 1/2-inch (4 cm) sticks and place in a large bowl.

Separate lettuce leaves and add to bowl. Halve and core apple; slice thinly. Stack apple slices and cut into thin sticks.

Squeeze over a little lemon juice to prevent apple pieces from browning; add to salad. Separate chicory leaves and add to salad. Toss everything together.

Divide salad between serving plates and top with crumbled Roquefort. Scatter with toasted walnuts, saving one or two for the dressing.

Top with a few deep-fried celery leaves, if desired. Spoon a generous amount of Roquefort dressing onto the side of each plate and finely grate over the reserved walnuts.

Recipe courtesy of Gordon Ramsay’s Maze

Image(s): James Pattyn, 2 For Life Media

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