So, time to search the memory bank for something cool and easy to showcase this week.
The Niece suggested the perfect idea, one she and my sister-in-law have been making for years. It is easy yet delicious, perfect for a summer party or a BBQ, or easy to put in a little Tupperware container and carry to your next picnic or family gathering.
Brochettes of Melon, Prosciutto and Mozzarella with Basil Oil
makes eight
- 1 small bunch of basil
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 small cantaloupe
- 16 slices paper thin slice prosciutto
- 8 small balls of fresh mozzarella
- 8 metal or wooden skewers
First make the dressing.
Place 16 basil leaves in a blender or small food processor.
Add garlic and oil, pulsing until basil is finely chopped.
The basil oil can be made up to four hour ahead.
Open the cantaloupe, remove seeds and cut into cubes
or use a melon baller to make 16 pieces.
If your mozzarella is in large pieces, cut into piece of a similar size to the melon.
On a skewer, place melon, a rolled piece of prosciutto, a piece of mozzarella, another piece of prosciutto and finish with another piece of melon.Before serving, drizzle with basil oil, and garnish
plate with some sprigs of basil.
Key to this recipe is getting the best ingredients that you can.
Happily, pretty good prosciutto and mozzarella are readily available these days. I picked my cheese up at the "olive bar" at the local supermarket and got the prosciutto pre-packaged in the deli section. Yes, I could have gotten it sliced in the deli, but I thought it might be sliced a lot thinner if it was pre-cut rather than sliced by the over worker deli guy, who had 20 people waiting to order 15 items each for the weekend.
Key I think though is to get a nice ripe cantaloupe and happily they had some nice local ones to pick from at the store. I was told once that to pick a ripe one you should pick them up and smell the stem end. The one with the strongest cantaloupe odor wins.
I used a melon baller to make the cantaloupe, so the pieces turned out the same size as the mozzarella and create a nice appearance.
A little sweet, a little salty, a little savory..a lot very nice.
This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking."Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.
Apart from sounding really refreshing, this recipe makes a lovely presentation.
ReplyDeleteWe are still struggling with the heat, tho at least we are out of the 100 temps from last week.
yes, I agree that they are very pretty too, with the bright, fresh colors.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful and sounds so yummy -- and no heating up the stovetop/oven! Basil is plentiful at the the market now.
ReplyDeleteI just love your cooking (in vicarious theory, at any rate). That looks so tempting!
ReplyDeleteIt's important to use a good quality prosciutto thinly sliced. Otherwise, it can get rubbery when cold. Ugh! Then it's better to skip the prosciutto and use something else, perhaps sliced ham.
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful! Sounds like a terrific summer meal.
ReplyDeleteMickey, I think the one I used was about as thin as you could get. In fact it was so thin, although there was paper between each slice it was not the easiest thing to handle.
ReplyDeleteNow granted, any comparison between this and the prosciutto in Venice....forget about it!!
My basil plant is just perfect right now and I want to make something that will feature it. This is just the right dish. Thanks Caite for your timely post.
ReplyDeleteThis looks lovely and delicious. Great idea for those basil leaves that are ready to be picked. I always seem to have too many of them.
ReplyDeleteLooks not only delicious, but very pretty on the plate!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a perfect summer lunch. Definitely on my list for this week.
ReplyDeleteThese are pretty and look tasty! I am on the lookout for cool foods too. It's just too hot to cook most days. I have some basil growing in my backyard that would be fun to use in this dish!
ReplyDeleteI love when flavors are mixed and mesh so nicely like they do in your recipe. My mouth was watering as I read your post.
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect summer dish. I'm going to make this soon for guests.
ReplyDeleteThe sweet and salty flavors together make my mouth water just a little!
Those look wonderful. I like your presentation. Putting them on the skewers makes it much easier to serve.
ReplyDeleteI agree... too hot to cook! I dug out my July 4th fruit salad recipe this week.
Mouth is watering!!! YUM!
ReplyDeleteSounds perfect for the dog days of summer. Now if I could only get my hubby to think of that as a meal.
ReplyDeleteprotein...fruit...dairy...sounds pretty complete to me!
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat! It looks like such a refreshing meal or snack on these hot days.
ReplyDeleteI should have read this Saturday when our air conditioner died! Needless to say I wasn't in the mood for reading blogs. Sitting in front of the fan was all I could muster up - cooking? not a chance; we ate out at a very leisurely pace. This looks delicious though and very refreshing.
ReplyDelete