Pear and Prosciutto Salad

A perfectly simple pear and prosciutto salad made with walnuts and rocket, served on char-grilled bread with a sweet and tangy dressing. This is the kind of salad that is impressive enough to serve to guests as a side dish or can be eaten as a main meal, easily thrown together on a weeknight.

I have a little confession to make. I am not really a salad person. So why you may ask am I posting a salad recipe today? Well that is because this is no ordinary salad. This is the salad that made me crave salads and to openly declare my love.

The history of this salad comes from my brother. Back when he first started living with my husband and I we wanted to get more variety in the foods that we ate, so we often took turns cooking dinner for everyone. One day, he plated up this salad and I have been hooked ever since.

So now that we are well and truly into summer, it’s time to build up a repertoire of reliable, easy, and super tasty salads. This one ticks all those boxes. I’m already thinking about how many more times I can add this into my meal plan this year…

Ingredients in this pear and prosciutto salad.

• Pear – adds a beautiful crispness to the salad and the sweet and tart flavours are complemented perfectly.
• Prosciutto – salty, delicious, everything. We are using a very generous 50grams per person because there is nothing worse than being promised a prosciutto salad and only getting a little bit!
• Walnuts – salads need texture and that is where the walnuts come in. You can toast them if you want, but often I just leave them raw.
• Rocket – also known as arugula in the US/Canada, gives a peppery flavour that loves the salty prosciutto and the sweet dressing. You can also use baby spinach or a combination of both.
• Bread – this salad sits on a sturdy foundation of a char-grilled slice of bread. The flavour from the char goes through the salad and gives it that little extra while the bread itself makes it feel a little less like a salad and more like an open sandwich. I love to use a sourdough but any bread will work!
• Dressing – a little olive oil, red wine vinegar and honey come together to tie together all the flavours and bring this salad to life. The sweetness from the honey is next level so don’t skip!

How to make this pear and prosciutto salad

This is one of the easiest recipes on my blog. It’s the kind that you throw everything into a bowl and mix together. The only speciality equipment that I would recommend is a griddle pan or BBQ plate to get that char on the bread as it adds so much flavour to the final product. If that’s not possible though, toasting it in a normal frying pan will work as well.

Start by prepping your dressing by adding the olive oil, red wine vinegar and honey with a little salt and pepper into a jar and shake vigorously to combine. I like this salad lightly dressed, but you may want to double the quantity here if you know you like a lot of dressing.

In a large bowl, mix together your rocket, walnuts, pear, and prosciutto. Once this step is done, you can set it aside in the fridge with the mixed dressing. This means it is perfect to make ahead if needed. I wouldn’t leave it longer than a day however because you will find the rocket will start to wilt.

When ready to serve, toast your slices of bread with a little olive oil on a BBQ plate or griddle pan to get that nice char. Plate the salad with a slice of the toast, topped with the salad and then drizzle with your dressing. Doing it this way allows you to control how much you use as you don’t want the dressing to over power the flavours of the salad.

During the summer months, I will often eat this every week as its the perfect low effort meal that tastes delicious and still feels healthy. I mean it’s a salad right!

It has also become my go to for when guests come over and I need an impressive but easy salad for the table. If I am making it as a side though I will reduce the amount of prosciutto and serve it in a bowl rather than on the toasted bread. I might serve the bread separately on the table though, depending on how hungry I anticipate everyone to be.

This salad really is so good, and I know you will love the crunchy texture and the sweet and salty flavours.

More salad recipes:

The BEST Dairy Free Potato Salad
Vietnamese Noodle Salad
Quick & Healthy Superfood Salad
Mango and Avocado Salad
Orange, Spinach and Pomegranate Salad by It’s Not Complicated
Smoked Salmon Caesar Salad by Mrs Jones’s Kitchen

Original recipe was published January 18th 2017.