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If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to roll out spring recipes.
Scafata is a dish from the Umbria region of Italy, typically made with spring vegetables such as artichokes, escarole, fava beans, green (English) peas, and Swiss chard, and flavored with basil, mint, and often, guanciale (bacon made from the jowl of the pig). They inspire this recipe for spring salad with prosciutto.
We’ve adapted a recipe from ParmaCrown.com into a spring vegetable salad with prosciutto (Parma ham). In our version, you can:
Serve the vegetables raw, cooked (to al dente) or blanched.
Customize it with your favorite spring veggies, for example fava beans.
Substitute the chard and escarole with kale or romaine.
Top it with a poached egg, for a lunch entrée.
The difference between prosciutto and serrano ham is below.
RECIPE: SPRING SALAD WITH PROSCIUTTO
Ingredients For 4 Servings
For The Cooked Version
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
For The Raw Version
2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup vinegar (or divide between vinegar and fresh lemon juice)
Vegetables For Both Versions
1 medium zucchini, sliced (about 2 cups)
1-1/2 cups (about 4 ounces) snow peas
1 cup green peas
8 canned artichokes†, drained and halved
4 ounces (about 3/4 cup) asparagus spears cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup green onion cut into 1/2-inch pieces (do not include in cooked version)
Optional: 1 cup Swiss chard or escarole, torn into bite-size pieces
Toppings
8 slices prosciutto di Parma
Optional: 4 poached eggs
Optional garnish: chopped or chiffonade of fresh basil and/or mint
Preparation
For The Cooked Salad
1a. COMBINE the wine, oil, and onion in a large skillet; cover and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, snow peas, peas, artichokes, asparagus, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat, simmer partly covered about 5 minutes, stirring frequently until vegetables are al dente (or, if you prefer, tender).
For The Raw Salad
1b. MAKE the vinaigrette: Whisk the oil and vinegar with salt and pepper to taste. A pinch of dry mustard helps keep the emulsion from separating. Toss the vegetables in vinaigrette just to moisten. Place the remaining vinaigrette in a small pitcher for those who would like more.
For Either Salad
2. POACH the eggs. Divide the vegetables among four plates. Top each with two slices of prosciutto di Parma and an egg. Garnish with chopped fresh mint, if desired.
PROSCIUTTO & SERRANO HAMS: THE DIFFERENCES
Both prosciutto and Serrano hams are dry-cured: salted and hung in sheds to cure in the air. Both are served in very thin slices. Country ham, preferred in the U.S., is smoked, and a very different style from dry-cured hams.
While prosciutto and Serrano hams can be used interchangeably, they are different.
Prosciutto, from Italy, is cured for 10-12 months with a coating of lard. Serrano, from Spain, can be cured for up to 18 months (and at the high end, for 24 months). The differing times and microclimates affect the amount of wind that dries the hams, and thus the character of the final products.
They are made from different breeds of pigs: Prosciutto can be made from pig or wild boar, whereas Serrano is typically made from a breed of white pig.
The diet of the pigs differs. Parma pigs eat the local chestnuts, and are also fed the whey by-product of Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Italian-made prosciutto is never made with nitrates. American made prosciutto, as well as both domestic and Spanish Serrano-style hams, can have added nitrates.
Prosciutto is considered more salty and fatty. Serrano is considered more flavorful and less fatty.
MORE
Find more Parma ham recipes at ParmaCrown.com.
Bitter greens salad with prosciutto recipe.
The different types of ham.
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*If serving the salad raw or blanched, substitute 1/2 cup green onions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, for the cooked onion.
†The artichokes should be plain, not marinated.
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[1] Make this spring salad, raw or cooked (photos #1, #2, and #5 © Parma Crown | Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma).
[2] Prosciutto, Italian ham, is always thinly sliced (photo © Consorzio di Prosciutto di Parma).
[3] Spring peas, also known as English peas and green peas, are part of our spring salad (photo © Maude Restaurant | Los Angeles).
[4] Snow peas, popular in Chinese cuisine, are finding their way into more non-Asian dishes (photo © Burpee).
[5] Prosciutto in the making: hams hanging to cure in the air.
[6] Air-cured and delicious (photo © )
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