Celery, Fennel and Pear Salad with Pecorino and Pecans

This is the salad I made from the cookbook Franny's Simple Seasonal Italian that accompanied the Spaghetti with Chickpeas I wrote about yesterday. The original recipe calls for walnuts, but I substituted pecans since that's what I had on hand.

Celery leaves are the herb ends of celery stalks. If you buy celery hearts they are generally cut off ahead of time, so buy the longer celery to get them still attached.

Celery, Fennel and Pear Salad with Pecorino and Pecans
Adapted from a recipe in Franny's Simple Seasonal Italian by Andrew Feinberg, Francine Stephens and Melissa Clark

3/4 cup pecans
2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed, quartered lengthwise, cored and sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch thick pieces (about 1 cup)
2 to 3 celery stalks, cut on the diagonal into 1/4-inch thick pieces
2 tbsp. roughly chopped celery leaves
1 bosc pear, quartered, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
Juice from 1 lemon
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pecorino cheese for shaving

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread pecans on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Toast until fragrant and lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Allow to cool and then roughly chop.

2. Combine the fennel, celery, celery leaves, pear and toasted pecans in a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, pour over salad and toss to combine. Serve topped with shaved pecorino cheese.