Southern pecan & apple salad

Ingredients
- olive oil
- 25g butter
- 50g soft light brown sugar
- 100g pecans
- 2 red or green apples
- 2 chicory
- a couple of handfuls of mixed leaves, such as rocket and radicchio
DRESSING
- 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- 1
Lightly rub a baking tray with some olive oil and put to one side.
- 2
Put a large pan on a low heat and add your butter and sugar. Leave on a gentle simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally to stop it catching, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture starts to darken.
- 3
Gently stir in your pecans until they're well coated in the caramel syrup. Be careful not to splash yourself, and don't be tempted to have a taste because hot caramel can burn quite badly.
- 4
Once coated, tip the nuts on to the oiled tray and use the back of a spoon to separate them out into one layer. Leave them to cool so the caramel can harden on the nuts.
- 5
Meanwhile, make your dressing. Grate the orange zest into a large salad bowl, squeeze in the juice and add the Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and a good lug of extra virgin olive oil. Whisk them, then have a taste – you want to get a nice balance between the sharpness of the vinegar and the smoothness of the oil, so add a little more oil if needed, then season carefully with sea salt and black pepper.
- 6
Click off the chicory leaves and wash and spin dry all your leaves. Core, quarter and finely slice your apples and add to the bowl with all your leaves.
- 7
Break the cooled pecans apart, add half of them to the bowl, and use your hands to delicately toss and dress everything.
- 8
Serve on one big platter, or divide up between plates, and finish by crumbling over the rest of your beautiful caramel pecans.


