Prosciutto & melon
( Prosciutto e melone )

Prosciutto and melon recipe

Preparation

• - Prepare your melon.
  Cut it in half it and remove its seeds.
  Then slice every half and remove the rind.
  It’s not healthy and, first of all, polished to serve melon with its rind.
  Arrange all melon slices and prosciutto (raw ham) in a serving plate.

Just before serving

• - Your dish is ready!
  Serve it at once!

Note

Tips

• - If you want to astonish your guests, you can modify this recipe.
  Add some figs (remove their skin!) and a sauce that you can obtain in this way.
  Mix a lime juice together with 1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil and some grains of pink pepper. It’s very tasty!
• - Your melon must be cool. Remember to take prosciutto out of the fridge 15 minutes before the preparation.

Menu planning

• - Prosciutto and melon can be a starter, a second course in a traditional Italian menu or a single dish, depending on the occasion.
  But the recommended doses vary, depending on the use.
  If you serve it as appetizer, portions are more than 4. Also in this case, however, it all depends on what you'll combine with prosciutto and melon in your starter and your next courses.
  As a second course in a typical Italian meal, you should serve it after a first course (in summer, pasta or rice salad are preferable). My recommended doses are right for this case. Below the links to my recipes for pasta or rice salads!
  If you want to eat only prosciutto and melon, read the nutrition facts and estimate that the calories per meal must be 500 to 700.
• - Prosciutto and melon is also perfect in a meal, buffet-style. How to serve prosciutto and melon in a buffet?
  Cut your melon into cubes or balls (but in this case you need more time and there is also a greater waste).
  The whole slice could create problems. It is always preferable to prepare small bites to eat with your hands or only with a fork. Even prosciutto must be portioned in an appropriate manner.

Useful links for this recipe

• - Interested in Italian pasta salad or rice salad?

Healthy eating

• - The melon, rich in vitamins (especially A and C) and then antioxidants, has a high percentage of water (90%) and sugars around 13%. An important fact for people suffering from diabetes which in any case have to limit its consumption. Proteins are scarce and fat almost non-existent. Not high fiber intake, which is why diabetics must be careful consumer.
  That said, it is understandable why melon calories are only 33 per 100 grams of edible part. And this explains also why calories of this dish are not high but ... do not overdo ;))
• - Fiber per serving: 1.2 grams (30 grams is the daily intake)

A little history

The recipe prosciutto and melon was born in the Middle Ages when there was the habit of eating fruits, in that period often considered unpalatable because wet and cold, accompanied by hot and dry food (prosciutto was just right). On the other hand, prosciutto is processed in Italy at least since Roman times as evidenced by Cato. And Pliny the Elder too speaks of melon, often eaten flavored with salt (a vegetable not a fruit, in short), in the first century after Christ, in his Naturalis Historia.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Prosciutto & melon "?

The best wine for us is Prosecco. Bubbles are perfect for prosciutto and melon even in a meal, buffet-style.