Melon Prosciutto Chèvre Salad with Mint Dressing

This Melon Prosciutto Chèvre Salad is light, tasty and refreshing. The salty prosciutto goes perfectly with the sweet melon and creamy goat cheese, topped with the bright taste of the mint dressing. 

I don’t remember the first time I ate melon wrapped with prosciutto but I’m guessing it was when we were living in France in the early 1990s. Such a revelation! Salty ham with sweet, ripe summer melon is divine and, as far as we are concerned, also the perfect starter just on its own. 

This salad takes that simple starter and makes it into a whole meal (or a bigger starter) by adding salad greens, goat cheese and a delicious mint dressing. It’s the sort of dish that would go over big at an outdoor barbecue, potluck picnic or baby shower. Which is why I am sharing it today. 

Since way back in 2014, I’ve been sharing recipes on the first Wednesday of every month with a group its founder named Foodie Extravaganza party. Lauren was a food blogger (and cattle rancher) when she started the group but has since become a photographer (and still a rancher.) After many years of wanting a little one, she and her husband were recently blessed with a baby girl they’ve named Lucy so this month our theme is A Virtual Baby Shower! Make sure you scroll down to see what everyone is bringing to the party to welcome Lucy!

Melon Prosciutto Chèvre Salad with Mint Dressing

With the ingredient amounts below, you can serve 2-3 as a main course, 4-6 as a starter or 14 as part of a party buffet where each person gets one slice of the melon along with some of the accompanying greens, ham and cheese. This recipe is adapted from one on Food.com.

Ingredients

For the salad:

1 small Charolais melon (or your favorite sweet summer melon) 

6 thin slices (2 1/2 oz or 70g) Italian Prosciutto 

7oz or 200g log chèvre aka goat cheese, well chilled (15 minutes in the freezer makes it easier to slice neatly)

6 oz or 170g frisée or your favorite strongly flavored salad greens

For the dressing – makes about 3/4 cup or 180ml:

1/2 cup, gently packed, or 15g fresh mint leaves, divided

1/4 cup or 60ml white wine or apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup or 120ml olive oil 

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 generous pinch fine sea salt

A couple of good grinds of fresh black pepper

Method

To make the dressing, blend the rest of the ingredients along with half of the mint leaves until smooth. Put the dressing in the refrigerator to chill. 

Cut the goat cheese into circles and then cut the circles in half again. 

Cut the melon in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the melon into 14 slices and then cut the flesh off of the peel with a sharp knife. 

Arrange your greens on a large platter and top them with the melon slices. 

Rip the prosciutto in pieces and tuck them, along with the goat cheese semi circles, on top and amongst the melon slices. 

Add the reserved mint leaves to the top of the salad. 

Drizzle with mint dressing to serve.

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, today my Foodie Extravaganza group is celebrating the birth of sweet Lucy, the much-loved, long-awaited daughter of the group's founder, Lauren. We wish Lucy and her parents a long and happy life together! Check out all the tasty dishes we are sharing for this virtual baby shower!

• Classic Carol Chicken Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Cobb Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Coconut Filled Tartlets - East Indian from Sneha's Recipe
• Melon Prosciutto Chevre Salad with Mint Dressing from Food Lust People Love
• Pink and Blue Sandwich Cake Cookies from Our Good Life 
• Red Velvet Cupcakes from Passion Kneaded
• Toasted Sesame Seed Crackers from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Tortilla Taco Cups from Magical Ingredients

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

Pin this Melon Prosciutto Chèvre Salad with Mint Dressing!

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Baby Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto

Quick appetizers made from asparagus wrapped in prosciutto or Parma ham are perfect finger food for parties.

I first tried these beautiful morsels on my birthday last year, exactly one year ago today, made by the lovely Nicola.  That night was the first time we became reacquainted since we all lived in Abu Dhabi back in the late ‘80s.  During this past year we’ve have spent much time in Nicky's company, enjoying the warm hospitality of the home she shares with our dear friend, David.  As another birthday rolls around and I take stock of my blessings, David and Nicky are up near the very top of the list.  They gave me my birthday gift early since they are traveling this week and it almost made me cry.  This photo was from the olden days, more than 25 year ago.  They had it scanned and improved from an old print.  Then framed it.  Isn't that the best gift?!

Me and my sweetie, Abu Dhabi, circa 1988

Baby Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto

Prosciutto crudo is ham that has been cured and aged, so while technically it is uncooked, it is safe to eat, not to mention delicious. If it comes from the right region of Italy, it can also be called Parma ham but any prosciutto will do here. You can substitute thicker asparagus and use only one or two in each roll, but I prefer baby asparagus because they cook more quickly so they are done by the time the prosciutto is golden and crispy. Plus, look how pretty! You are going to love these wrapped asparagus!  So easy and so delicious!

Ingredients
100g or 3 1/2 oz baby asparagus
120g or 4 1/4 oz thinly sliced (raw cured, not dried) prosciutto
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
Cut the tough dry ends off the bottoms of your asparagus.

Separate the slices of prosciutto and slice them each in half lengthwise.

Prepare your cooking pan by drizzling it all over with the olive oil.

Here’s where you are going to have to do a little math on your own.  Determine how many half slices of prosciutto you have.  My package had 10 slices so I had 20 long halves.

Now count your asparagus spears and figure out how many you can put in each roll.  You may have a few remainders, as we used to say in long division.  I had 86 spears, divided by 20 = 4.3.  So, for me, each roll could have 4 spears and six of those rolls could have five.  Take out the thinnest spears to be your remainders so you can add them in to the last however many rolls.

Okay, ready to roll?   Starting near the top of the asparagus spears, roll them up as tightly as you can in the prosciutto.

Go once around the top and then start angling the roll so that you finish near the bottom.

Place the rolls in your prepared cooking pan and turn them over in the olive oil to coat.

The broiler or grill in my oven has a very narrow range so I lined mine up so the prosciutto was in the middle.  If yours works better, you can spread them around the pan.

Cook under the grill or broiler of your oven until they have cooked on one side, turn them over to brown on the other.  For some of you, this may happen quite quickly so don’t walk away and do keep a close eye on them.

When crispy on both sides, remove to a serving plate and sprinkle them with a generous helping of freshly ground black pepper.  These can be served immediately or later at room temperature.  I must confess that my husband was traveling when I made these and I munched on them all morning until they were all gone.

As when Nicky served them, these go great with a glass of Champagne.  Or whatever your favorite tipple.  Enjoy!

Here are a few other appetizer recipes you might enjoy:

• Bacon Jalapeño Poppers by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Cheesy Melt by Kiss My Smoke
• Turkey Meatballs with Blackberry Sauce by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Loaded Sweet Potato Waffle Fries by Food Done Light
• Bacon Wrapped Smokies with Brown Sugar by What's Cooking, Love?
• Almond Crusted Baked Eggplant by Je suis alimentageuse
• Crab Rangoon Dip by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Mustard and Gruyere Batons by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spiced Nuts by My Catholic Kitchen
• Crispy Cheese Twists by Life Off the Clock
• Baked Sriracha Bites by Organized Island
• Mini Pita Pizzas by Home Cooking Memories
• Slow Cooker Salsa Pulled Chicken Sliders by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Green Hummus by Mom's Test Kitchen
• Baked Mozzarella Sticks by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Low Sodium Cauliflower-Potato Bites by Cookerati
• Pickled Pepper and Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pizza/Pinwheels by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Sriracha Chicken Pockets by Lemons for Lulu
• Baby Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto by Food Lust People Love
• Crispy Baked Green Bean Fries by Dizzy Busy and Hungry
• Smoked Salmon Dip by Wonky Wonderful
• Low Carb Monster Fingers by Yours and Mine are Ours

Parmesan Chicken Breasts with Crispy Prosciutto

This recipe is especially for my dear friend, Belinda, who apparently has a surplus of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in her freezer.   It is one of my favorites from Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food, published in the US as Food Revolution, where, for some bizarre reason, the Parmesan was omitted from the recipe.  I can’t imagine why.

Ingredients

2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme

30g or 1 oz Parmesan cheese

2 skinless chicken breasts

Freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon

4-5 slices of prosciutto or Parma ham – about 70g or 2.5 oz

Olive oil

Method

Pick the thyme leaves off the stalks.   If there are some very fine stalks which just break when you try to remove the leaves, just chop those up and group with the leaves. Grate your Parmesan.

Lay some cling film on a cutting board and place the breasts on the plastic.  Carefully score the underside of the chicken breasts in a criss-cross fashion with a small knife.

Season with a little pepper (You don’t need salt as the prosciutto and Parmesan are quite salty).  Lay your breasts next to each other and sprinkle over most of the thyme leaves.

Grate a little lemon zest over them.

Put half of the Parmesan on each breast.

Lay two prosciutto slices on each chicken breast, overlapping them slightly. If there happens to be a fifth slice in your package, as mine had, cut it in half and put one piece on each breast on top of the other two slices.

Put a square of plastic wrap over each breast and give them a few really good bashes with the bottom of a saucepan until they are about ½ inch or 1cm thick.

This  is the fun part!  Give it a jolly good bash. 

Put a frying pan over a medium heat. Remove the plastic wrap and carefully transfer the chicken breasts, prosciutto-side down, into the pan.

Drizzle over some olive oil. Cook for three minutes on each side, turning halfway through.

Either serve the chicken breasts whole or cut them into thick slices and pile them on a plate.   Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over and a sprinkle of the few leftover thyme leaves. 

Enjoy!