And while the great weather continues, I spoil you with more picnic recipes. I was a bit unlucky last weekend, as we had a picnic planned with our friends Timi, Levente, and their gorgeous daughter Anna, 5 months and 22 days old today, but they couldn't do Sunday (I still suspect they wanted to make a day of watching sports - the Grand Prix in Montréal, followed by Euro 2004 England vs France) - although they insisted that wasn't the reason. So they came round on Saturday and the weather wasn't really that fantastic, so we ended up eating our picnic at home. Not even in the garden. In the dining room.
So if the weather was a disappointment, the food surely wasn't - you've been introduced to the Muffuletta Twins already, please meet a gorgeous melon salad, the ripest Charentais you could possibly imagine, and the simplest preparation as well - fry some prosciutto, sprinkle some pine nuts, drizzle with some balsamico... I just loved the sweetness of the ripe melon, almost tasting of honey, and the subtle saltiness of the prosciutto. Again, this travels well, if you're worried about the parma ham losing its crispness, pack it up separately and only garnish once arrived at your favourite picnic spot... it couldn't get any easier!
Melon & prosciutto salad
1 Charentais melon
6 thin slices prosciutto di speck or parma ham
100 g pine nuts
balsamic vinegar
crushed black pepper
Cut the melon in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the melon with a melon cutter to form little balls (you could retain the peel and use it as bowls to serve) or simply peel and cut in bite-size chunks. Fry the bacon in a non-stick pan or in the microwave, drain on some kitchen paper until it crisps. Put the pine nuts in a non-stick pan (no need for oil) and heat carefully until slightly brown. Put the melon balls in a tupperware container (if using for a picnic, otherwise a plain bowl will do), drizzle with 4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, add the bacon bits and pine nuts and season with black pepper.
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