SIDES & SALADS, ITALIAN
MELON & PARMA HAM SALAD WITH OAT & PARMESAN CRUMB
- Timescale In A Hurry
- Serves 4
- Difficulty Simple
Parma Ham and Melon has always been a staple of Summer for me. Made of in season juicy cantaloupe melons and delightfully salty Parma ham slices, it is as delicious as it is simple. What more is there to add I hear you say? Well, believe it or not, the addition of mint and our Oat & Parmesan Crumb truly lifts this dish, even more than you can imagine. The salty oat crumbs adds not only a brilliant bit of texture, but also a wonderfully salty, and nutty flavour that absolutely complements these few ingredients. An absolute simple Summer delight, wasps and all!
Scale
Ingredients
FOR THE PARMESAN OAT CRUMB
½ Cup (40g) Oats
20g Parmesan, finely grated
A Pinch of Salt & Pepper
FOR THE SALAD
1 Cantaloupe Melon
6–8 Slices of Parma Ham
Handful of Mint Leaves, roughly chopped
METHOD
FOR THE PARMESAN OAT CRUMB
- Add a lug of olive oil to a pan and set on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the oats and leave to crisp up for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Once the oats have a deep golden colour, add the grated parmesan and black pepper and mix around so that the parmesan coats the oats evenly. Do not worry if the mixture clumps up a bit, you can break it into smaller chunks later on.
- Place the oat and parmesan crumb mixture on a plate and set aside to cool.
FOR THE MELON PARMA HAM SALAD
- Prepare your melon by slicing it halfway, and remove the seeds. Cut the melon into 8 slices and remove the skin.
- Heat up a grill pan and place the melon slices on it for 1 minute on each side.
- Place on a serving tray with the slices of Parma ham, folded in between the melon slices.
- Remove the stems off the mint sprigs, and chop the leaves. Sprinkle over the melon slices.
- Finally, sprinkle the oat and parmesan crumb over the melon Parma ham salad. If you have bigger clumps you can break them up into smaller chunks at this stage. You can reserve a bit of the crumb mixture to the side if you’d like, so everyone can add as much as they’d like.
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