Prosciutto, Melon, and Arugula Salad

 

When summer gives you melons, make a delicious summer salad!

In our household during the summer months we like to buy a variety of melons to cut up and have on-hand in the fridge for easy snacking. I came upon a photo of this salad on The Peasant & The Pear's Facebook page and just had to try and re-create it.

How does one go about re-creating something they have never had before? I could see from the photo they used a balsamic glaze to drizzle on the melon balls, but I was curious as to what the arugula was dressed with. I went to the restaurants website menu to read the description - not much help. Just listed what was easily seen in their photo. So I did a Google search for melon and prosciutto salad. As you can imagine there is an abundance of recipes for this type of salad.

I ended up going with my usual salad dressing I make (walnut oil, Cabernet vinegar, sweet-hot mustard, salt and pepper), subbing balsamic vinegar in place of the Cabernet vinegar to dress the arugula. I tossed the melon balls with a little olive oil and salt (as one of the many recipes I read, had done), and topped the salad with a few shavings of Parmesan. I then made a balsamic reduction to drizzle over the salad.

This turned out to be a very tasty!

 

Prosciutto, Melon, and Arugula Salad

Serves 1

1 or 2 slices of thinly sliced Prosciutto di Parma

2 watermelon balls

2 cantaloupe balls

2 honeydew balls

Handful of arugula

Shavings of Parmesan cheese

Salad dressing made with Balsamic vinegar (purchased or homemade)

Balsamic Glaze*

Toss the arugula with the salad dressing and set aside.

Toss the melon balls with a little olive oil and salt, and set aside.

Place the Prosciutto decoratively on the plate. Arrange the melon balls in a circle atop the Prosciutto – a little offset – so the Prosciutto will be peeking out on one side. Pile the dressed arugula in the center of the melon balls and top with shavings of Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with the Balsamic glaze.

Balsamic Glaze

1 cup good quality Balsamic Vinegar

½ tablespoon honey (optional)

Pour vinegar in a small heavy bottomed saucepan. Add honey if using (for a sweeter glaze) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer slowly until reduced by more than half, and the mixture becomes syrupy. This can take up to a half-hour or more. Be patient - it's worth the wait.

Store leftover glaze in the refrigerator. (You will need to re-heat the mixture to bring it back to its fluid state.)