PMP Summer Salad (Grilled Peach, Melon & Prosciutto)
Prosciutto & melon is one of the most glorious classic flavor combinations ever. The perfect blend of sweet and salty, refreshing and savory…not to mention so easy to throw together. These little BFF’s are usually served as a delicate piece of prosciutto wrapped around a ripe piece of cantaloupe. This beautiful salad steps it up a bit without being super pretentious. Peppery arugula serves as the base, but you can totally use whatever greens you’ve got in the fridge. Grilling fruit is such a great way to elevate any dish. It brings out the natural sugars in the fruit and makes everything taste even more vibrant. A mix of sweet melon balls, creamy mozzarella, grilled peaches, thin, salty prosciutto, a bite from slivers of raw red onion, sea salt & a crack of black pepper make the most delicious summer salad. Let’s get cookin!
What You Need: (Serves 2)
- ½ cantaloupe - I used a Dulcinea Tuscan Cantaloupe. It has deep ridges and is really delicious, see if your market carries them :) See my pic below
- 1 package prosciutto (when shopping for prosciutto, the only ingredients should be pork and salt)
- ¼ small red onion
- 1 package of arugula
- 1 ripe but firm peach
- 4-8 oz small mozzarella balls (or you can slice a large ball of mozz)
- sea salt or kosher salt
- black pepper
- Balsamic vinegar
- Optional: Handful basil
- Optional: Parmesan cheese
- The Dulcinea Cantaloupe was delicious, really sweet and firm. It’s beautiful when you slice the melon in half, it looks like it has scalloped edges because of the ridges in the flesh :)
Slice your cantaloupe in half, and remove the seeds with a spoon. Use a melon baller to make a handful of melon balls. Everything in this salad is really to taste - as many or as little as you want!
- If you don’t have a melon baller, you can slice up the melon and use 1/2″-1″ diced pieces for this salad.
- Heat a grill top or grilling skillet. I recently got a gorgeous indoor grill that makes everything really easy and fun to clean up. You can spray the grill top with a bit of vegetable oil.
- With a paring knife, halve your peach and carefully remove the pit. Slice the peach into about 8 pieces.
- Place the peach slices at a 45 degree angle onto the grill and allow them to sear until you have beautiful grill marks. Your kitchen will smell amazing!
- Drain the mozzarella balls in a strainer.
- Use a sharp knife to slice off thin slivers of red onion.
- This salad is basically done. Lay down a base of arugula and toss together a mixture of the grilled peaches red onion. I like tearing up the slices of prosciutto and loosely wrapping them around the melon balls. You can top this off with shavings of Parmesan and sprigs of fresh basil. Sweet cherry tomatoes would even work in this salad.
- Sprinkle sea salt and a few cracks of black pepper over the top of your beautiful salad, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
This salad is a simple twist on the classic. I love how vibrant the colors and textures are, and how all the flavors of the ingredients bring out the best in the others surrounding them.
My lil PMP Summer Salad is the perfect way to celebrate the first day of Summer! I love mixing fresh fruit with things that make a dish a little more hearty. I hope you’re all enjoying the start of a beautiful season. If you’ve cooked any #BrokeAndCooking recipes, I’d love to hear from you! Tag #brokeandcooking or @bac_blog / @stephaniejung :) Have a great week!