Parma goes well with melon. Appetizer of melon and Parma ham

The simplest Italian appetizer with a very unusual combination of ingredients is prosciutto with melon. A classic of Italian cuisine is a summer recipe that is repeated many times, at least at least once a day. There would be a desire, but you can always spend a couple of minutes cooking. Any sweet melon of any variety will do, and prosciutto Parma ham, which is traditionally found in any store.

The recipe for this Italian appetizer is so simple that perhaps it's one of the most stable recipes - cut a melon into slices and mix it with thinly sliced prosciutto. Nothing complicated, right? However, the appearance of prosciutto with melon is determined by the original serving and serving. Often, this is completely unexpected. Out of habit, many, until they try, cannot determine what they were served.

The main component of the snack is prosciutto. From Italian, the word prosciutto means ham. The best ham is rubbed with sea salt, spices are sometimes added, and salted in a dry way. Pigs for prosciutto, especially around Parma, are fattened in a special way, including corn, fruit and Parmesan whey in the diet. Salted hams are dried for almost a year and the prosciutto becomes almost firm and incredibly fragrant.

Prosciutto ham is not subjected to heat treatment, otherwise it will become like chips and lose its aroma and taste. When cooked, the ham is simply scattered over the finished pizza, just before serving. It is believed that the best way to serve such ham is to mix it with figs (figs) or sweet melon. Italian prosciutto with melon is the best way to serve, check it out.

Prosciutto with melon is traditional not only for Italy. In the Balkans, prosciutto appetizer is found everywhere. This is a smoked or cured ham served with sheep's cheese, onions, olives or melons.

Italian appetizer prosciutto e melone - prosciutto with melon, made from very thinly sliced ham, virtually transparent. Peeled sweet melon slices are tossed or rolled into thin strips of ham. Often the serving of appetizers is very pretentious - the simplicity of the recipe is more than offset by the author's imagination when served. Sometimes, when serving, not very fragrant greens are added to the appetizer - arugula or green salad.

Prosciutto with melon. Step by step recipe

Ingredients (serves 4)

Ripe sweet melon 0.5 pcs
Prosciutto 200 gr
Arugula as desired

A good melon for a good snack - should be fragrant and sweet. The variety of melon, if you are not in Italy, can be anything. But, it is desirable that the melon does not expire with juice. Usually, when choosing a melon, they sniff it - a strong aroma is a signal that the melon is ripe, and is perfect for a snack. Many people think that prosciutto with melon should be cooked with yellow flesh. Others that the color doesn't matter.
Ripe fragrant melon
Cut a ripe melon in half and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds into a bowl. By the way, in childhood we dried such seeds, then roasted them and ate them. With a spoon, also scrape off the inner layer, which is adjacent to the pulp and the seeds are attached to it. Melon can be cut into cubes, diamonds, slices, etc.
Cut the melon into slices - shape as desired
If you have a suitable kitchen tool for cutting balls from the pulp of fruits and vegetables, you can cook prosciutto with melon in a very original way. Once upon a time, I bought such an inexpensive tool for carving - artistic carving of vegetables and fruits. With it, you can cut the melon in half, creating a beautiful jagged edge. And also cut out balls with a diameter of about 25 mm from the pulp.
Sliced melon for appetizer
Italian prosciutto with melon can be served on a regular plate, in a bowl or a large glass. The appetizer served in the melon itself looks very beautiful - the part of the shell that remains after cutting slices from the pulp. Decide for yourself how to proceed. I decided to serve the appetizer in large glasses, so I just cut the pulp balls - a full bowl.
Melon and ham can be cut coarsely
To decorate the prosciutto with melon a little, I decided to add quite a bit of arugula leaves. They did not introduce a smell into the snack and did not change the taste, but diversified the color scheme. Cut the ham into the thinnest strips you can make. Often, prosciutto is sold pre-sliced, or it can be done at the supermarket when you buy it. The latter option is preferable - you can see what quality the piece is cut.
Thinly sliced prosciutto
Mix balls or slices of melon and slices of prosciutto into a bowl. Thin slices of ham can be folded like an accordion or rolled into rolls. Turn on your fantasy. Pieces of melon can be wrapped with ham. If desired, you can add a little arugula to the appetizer - literally 4-5 leaves per serving. Often, an Italian appetizer is additionally served with a thin slice of bread wrapped in prosciutto, etc.
Portioned appetizers
If possible, you can make an appetizer using yellow and white melon slices mixed together - it looks amazing. Sometimes melon with prosciutto is served with fresh green basil - as for me, too pungent smell and taste. With basil, it is better to cook vegetable or cheese snacks, for example -

Melon with ham is the most popular combination in all countries where there are good melons and good ham! In Spain, tapas is prepared - "jamon with melon", in Italy one of the traditional antipasti is Parma ham with melon, well, or prosciutto with melon. Today I will have a canape with melon and Parma ham, but there is also a salad of these products, and serving in the form of rather large pieces of melon wrapped in layers of prosciutto or jamon.

I think everyone has already figured out that we are talking about dried ham. If you're unsure of your ability to cut your ham into thin slices, it's best to use sliced ham. Melons are suitable for any variety, as long as they are ripe, sweet and fragrant. The quality of the ingredients for this dish generally plays a decisive role: there is no good ham and good melon - there is nothing to mess with it. Oversalted ham will kill any melon, no ham will save unsweetened melon. Possible seasonings are fresh mint, lemon balm, basil, a mixture of peppers.

We cut the melon into slices, cut off the skin and the entire green layer. For accuracy, you can cut a layer in the area of \u200b\u200bthe seeds. For serving in the form of canapés, we cut the melon slices into bite-sized pieces.

We cut the ham into thin strips, commensurate in width with pieces of melon.

Design options for canape with melon and Parma ham, I will allow myself to describe this way:

You can file a strip (or a piece of ham of any configuration) onto a pike on top of a melon.
You can string a strip on a serving peak in the form of a wave, straighten it and then stick the peak into a melon.
You can wrap the melon with a strip of ham and pierce this envelope with a pike.

The first and third are not very beautiful, but it is convenient and tasty to eat. The second is the most decorative, but it is not very convenient to eat, and not any ham is suitable for this - there are layers that do not want to keep the "wave". For myself, I do only the third method, but here it is for photography ...

Melon with ham can be sprinkled with ground peppers and herbs. But you can not sprinkle, seasonings in this dish are not mandatory.

If you are planning any celebration in the summer, we advise you to prepare an original and very tasty melon appetizer. In the fruit season, such an appetizer will come in handy. Instead of boring sandwiches with sausage and cheese, surprise your guests. Recipe for an appetizer of melon and Parma ham for you.

Appetizer of melon and Parma ham

This one is very easy and quick to prepare! Looks amazing and tastes great. Perfect for a summer outdoor party.

Ingredients:

To prepare such canapes, you will need special skewers.

Parma ham
Black olives or olives
Greens for decoration

Cooking:

Cut the melon in half, clean the middle with seeds and cut into slices.

Cut each slice into 2-3 pieces with a sharp knife.

Put a piece of Parma ham on each.

Thread one olive on the skewer, and then insert the skewer with the olive into the piece of melon with the ham.

Ready-made melon and ham canapés lay out beautifully on a large dish. You can decorate with basil sprigs.

Appetizer of melon and Parma ham is ready, you can serve it to the table! Bon appetit and good rest!

Melon with ham is a classic snack that is refreshing, whets the appetite and delights the taste buds. Like any other two-ingredient dish, which is also prepared in two minutes (although I won’t call it “any other” in a hurry), melon with ham is very demanding on the original products. Therefore, in this case, by ham we mean high-quality dry-cured ham (ideally Parma or jamon), by melon - a tender, sweet and by no means overripe fruit, but it is better to serve such a dish with light red wine (which I use, However, I do not insist).

Melon with ham

2 servings

6 slices cured ham or
1/2 small melon

The recipe is given below, and since it consists of two lines, I decided to add a few words from myself about the combination of flavors. At the heart of the union of melon and ham is a tried and tested combination of sweet and salty. Another famous combination is sweet and sour, which is often used, in particular, in. Sour and salty combine a little worse, since the perception of these tastes by our receptors is quite close. But bitter is even less fortunate - it just so happens that most of the plant toxins found in nature have a bitter taste (or taste), so we don't really like it. So evolution decided not to pull anything into the mouth. And there is also a fifth taste -. By the way, it is also contained in dry-cured ham ...

Cut the melon into slices and arrange them on a plate. Wrap the slices of ham around the melon slices or simply lay them artistically on top. That's the whole recipe!