Salad of Prickly Pears, Feta and Watercress

Serves 6 as a starter

• 6 large, ripe prickly pears, chilled overnight
• 2 ‘wheels’ (about 140 g) creamy feta cheese, cubed
• a small bunch of fresh watercress, leaves picked
• 1 tsp (5 ml) dried red chilli flakes, or more, to taste
• salt and milled black pepper
• a little extra-virgin olive oil
• fresh lemon juice

First peel the cold pears. Cut about 5 mm off the top and bottom of each pear, using a kitchen cloth or a rubber glove to grasp the pear while you do so. Place a pear, upright, on a chopping board. Push the tines of a fork into the top of the pear to hold it fast. Now, using the tip of a sharp paring knife, make four vertical cuts, about 3mm deep, into the skin of the pear, scoring from top to bottom. Use the fork to peel away the skin in sections; it will come away easily if the pears are ripe. Cut the pear in half vertically and slice into thick half-moons. Repeat with the remaining pears.
Put the pears in a bowl and add the feta, watercress and chilli flakes. Season with salt and pepper (but go easy on the salt, as the feta is already quite salty). Toss all the ingredients gently together. Pile the mixture onto a platter (or onto individual plates) and drizzle with a little olive oil and a generous spritz of lemon juice. Serve immediately.
 This recipe was originally published on Scrumptious SA.