I love asparagus wrapped in parma ham, and had been planning to cook it for lunch one day when I decided to try the combination in a salad.
Although you could simply steam the asparagus, it's delicious when blanched and then griddled. (If you don't have asparagus, then the salad does also works well without - see image 3)
The Parma ham doesn't really need cooking, but it turns lovely and crispy when cooked on the griddle and is a lovely contrast to the softness of the other ingredients.
As an alternative you can always make my
asparagus wrapped in parma ham, and then use that to top a salad (as per the final image). But whichever way you have it, its a great combination!
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a starter
For the salad:
4 eggs
4 slices parma ham or prosciutto
230g asparagus (not tips)
50g rocket per person
¼ cucumber
¼ small red onion
Extra virgin olive oil
For the dressing:
1 tablespoon of runny honey
½ tablespoon of Dijon mustard
½ tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons of olive or rapeseed oil
Seasoning
Method
- Hard, or soft boil the eggs, then place in a bowl of cold water and set aside.
- Cut the cucumber into small dice.
- Thinly slice the red onion.
- Break the woody ends off the asparagus.
- Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Throw in the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes.
- Remove the asparagus from the boiling water and plunge into a container of cold water, to help retain the colour and to prevent the asparagus from cooking further.
- Peel the eggs, half or quarter and set aside.
- Place all the dressing ingredients into a jug and mix well to combine.
- Arrange the rocket on the plates, and top with the eggs, cucumber and onion.
- Drain the asparagus and dry with kitchen paper, before rubbing with olive oil.
- Heat a griddle pan and when its really hot, throw on the asparagus and reduce the heat slightly. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side until nicely charred.
- Place the asparagus on the salads.
- Return the griddle to the heat and throw on the parma ham or proscuitto, and cook for a few minutes until it's starting to get nice and crispy.
- Top the salad with the parma ham, pour over the dressing and serve.
