Category: prosciutto

Categories
courgettes polenta prosciutto sage turkey veal

saltimbocca with courgette fries

turkey and veal saltimbocca with polenta and courgette fries

This post is dedicated to Laissez Fare.

Twitter friend and all-round good egg Laissez Fare was upping sticks and moving back to his homeland, USA. He was throwing a party but wouldn’t you know it, it was during my only week’s holiday of the year. So we managed to arrange a separate lunch where we could chat, eat and give him a little send-off. Using his wiles he’d booked us a table at the titchy-but-perfectly-formed Polpetto.

We had a lovely meal and sampled many dishes – including a £7.50 sandwich I couldn’t ignore. Ironically the disappointment was the polpetti, which tasted only of the fennel marinade they were in. However lots of them were top drawer, such as the pigeon saltimbocca cooked to a perfect purple-pink with fragrant sage, and finely-sliced zucchini fries with a light tempura-style crunch. I enjoyed these so much I attempted to recreate them later that week at home.

I happened to have some turkey and veal hanging around the freezer so chose those over the pigeon version, and made one each of those. They were great, yet surprisingly the turkey version was more interesting than the veal. And the courgette fries were equally tasty. I had the oil a touch too hot at the start, but once it calmed down the fries were much more consistent. I was very pleased with the results.

If you’re in the Leicester Square area, forego those touristy places and try to grab a seat at Polpetto – tasty food, kind and informal service and very reasonable prices. +1 for the non-matching crockery too.

Saltimbocca with courgette fries:

For the saltimbocca:

4 breasts of turkey or veal

4 slices of prosciutto

4 sage leaves

100ml beef stock

For the fries:

2 courgettes, diced to approx 4mm matchsticks

100g plain flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon honey

200ml carbonated water

Vegetable oil (or similar) for deep-frying

  1. First make the batter. Stir the flour, baking powder and honey together with a pinch of sugar and whisk in the water. Clingfilm and pop in the fridge for half an hour. (This will ‘set’ the batter and hold the bubbles in place).
  2. Place the breasts between two pieces of clingfilm and pound until it’s about half a centimetre thick. Discard the clingfilm, place a sage leaf on each breast, season and wrap in a slice of prosciutto.
  3. Get a frying pan to a medium heat and add a little oil. Fry the saltimbocca for 7 – 8 minutes until cooked through, and put to one side to rest. Add the stock to the pan and boil hard to reduce and get the good stuff off the pan.
  4. Bring enough oil to fill 2/3 of a pan to 190°C. Dip the courgette in the batter, shake off the excess and deep-fry in batches. They will only take 45 seconds – 1 minute to cook and turn light brown. Put to kitchen paper to drain and toss over some sea salt.
  5. Serve the saltimbocca on soft polenta, pouring the pan juice / stock over.
Categories
artichoke food mascarpone pasta peas prosciutto

spaghetti with prosciutto and artichoke

Pleased as punch note: this recipe has been given the Jamie Oliver seal of approval 🙂

A lightning fast pasta dinner. All those wonderful tasty ingredients coming together in a dish that allows you to taste each element yet come together as a varied and interesting whole. Fresh peas, salty prosciutto, meaty artichoke… lovely.

Spaghetti with prosciutto and artichoke:

250g spaghetti

5 slices of prosciutto, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

250ml white wine

250g artichokes, cut into rough chunks

2 tablespoons mascarpone

Grated zest of 1 lemon

A handful of frozen peas

2 teaspoons of finely chopped parsley

  1. Put the pasta on to cook according to the packet instructions.
  2. Fry the garlic and prosciutto in olive oil until edges of the meat is curled and browning.
  3. Add the white wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add seasoning.
  4. Add the lemon zest, peas and artichokes until warmed through.
  5. Add the mascarpone and allow to bubble a bit. Add a splash of water from the boiling pan to slacken if necessary.
  6. Add the drained pasta and season to taste. Sprinkle with parsley.
Categories
food garlic lamb lemon prosciutto rosemary

italian roast lamb

I was really in the mood for artichokes alla romana again, and had the thought of lamb but more so. Even though it’s mid-Summer, I was craving some roast lamb. So to go with the artichokes I put an Italian spin on the meat. I whizzed up rosemary, garlic, lemon zest and prosciutto with some oil and then smeared all over my pierced joint. A while in the oven and a pungent, flavourful piece of meat was enjoyed. Iwas very pleased with the cut too – I planned a leg but my butcher only had absolute whoppers. What he did have though was a boned & rolled shoulder, which although I didn’t expect both speeded up the cooking time and gave me a nice crevice into which to cram the tasty stuffing.

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Italian roast lamb

A fragrant and tasty roast lamb dish.

Ingredients

  • Leg or shoulder of lamb
  • 3 slices of prosciutto or Parma ham
  • Leaves of 2 rosemary stalks
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 fat garlic cloves

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 230C.
  • Whizz the prosciutto, lemon, garlic and lemon zest in a processor. Add olive oil to slacken to a mushy paste.
  • Pack the stuffing / baste around the meat, poking into any nooks or crannies. Stab the meat with a knife if necessary.
  • Put the meat in the oven and turn down to 170C.
  • Cook until done to your likeness - 1hr 30mins for this one.
Categories
balsamic vinegar food mozzarella prosciutto rocket strawberry

strawberry rocket salad

What a Summer stunner. The marvellous Simon had made this for us the previous week and it was fantastic, so I had to have a go myself. It originates from this month’s Waitrose magazine.

It kinda shouldn’t work, but when you load your fork with a little of everything –  crunchy shallot, bitter rocket, salty prosciutto, sweet strawberry, soft mozzarella and tangy balsamic dressing – it explodes in the mouth for a perfect combination.

Strawberry rocket salad:

450g strawberries, hulled and sliced

10 slices of prosciutto

100g rocket

200g buffalo mozzarella, torn into bite-sized pieces

2 shallots, peeled and sliced

For the balsamic dressing:

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

black pepper

  1. Whisk the vinegar, oil and plenty of pepper together in a large bowl.
  2. Toss the strawberries, shallots and rocket leaves with the dressing.
  3. Arrange the ham and cheese on the plates, then spoon some salad over the top.
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