Prosciutto

30 Melt-in-Your-Mouth Prosciutto Recipes

Your charcuterie board has never looked so good.

December 24, 2021
Photo by Rocky Luten

We love a good charcuterie board (especially if it’s designed by Marissa Mullen). It might seem a little basic, but have you ever heard anyone complain about a board the size of a pirate’s plank covered in an assortment of meats, soft and hard cheeses, and everything in between? Mini pickles, nuts, jams, and half a dozen types of crusty bread: Please and thank you! But at the center of it all is prosciutto (we see you, too, burrata, but this isn’t about you). While I’ll never, never be tired of a plentiful prosciutto platter, it can do more than just look pretty. These 30 recipes will prove that Parma’s cured ham delicacy goes beyond the board.


Best Prosciutto Recipes

1. Dressed-Up Cara Cara Oranges With Prosciutto & Pistachios

This isn’t the first time we’ve made a prosciutto salad with juicy fruit and herbs—but it may be our best development to date. On a big platter, arrange alternating layers of orange rounds and prosciutto slices, then garnish with pistachios, mint leaves, shaved Pecorino Romano, and good-quality olive oil.

2. Pasta with Prosciutto, Snap Peas, Mint & Cream

I’m not going to waste any time delivering the pasta recipe I know you came here for—creamy pasta (in this case we used orecchiette) mixed with crispy prosciutto. Ask your butcher for thick slabs of prosciutto rather than thin slices for this particular dish.

3. Champagne Alfredo with Crispy Prosciutto & Shrimp

I’m sure you’ve heard of the no-mess method for baking bacon strips in the oven, but did it ever cross your mind to do the same with prosciutto slices? You can thank recipe developer Grant Melton for his brilliant, splatter-free vision.

4. Honeydew With Prosciutto, Olives & Mint

The sweet and salty prosciutto salad is one that manages to make its way onto every dinner party menu because it’s just so good. This one gets a briny touch with oil-cured olives and heat from crushed Calabrian chiles.

5. Sweet Fuyu Persimmon with Prosciutto, Burrata & Mint From The Daley Plate

You had me at burrata. And then again at prosciutto. And then again at persimmons and fresh mint and smoked sea salt.

6. Prosciutto & Goat Cheese Strata

For a savory brunch that will feed a crowd, this eggy, cheesy casserole dish will fit the bill. But between the prosciutto, two types of cheeses, and fresh basil, it’s got enough going on that you could just as easily serve it for dinner, too.

7. Hasselback Prosciutto e Melone

“Prosciutto e melone is a summer classic, but we love the idea of serving it in a more exciting way. Hasselbacking the melon and stuffing the slices with pieces of prosciutto and basil takes something that might feel a bit expected and makes it exciting and new,” say our editors.

8. Smoked Gouda Cheese Ball With Crispy Prosciutto

Wait…it can’t be…is it? Is that crispy prosciutto on the outside of the cheese ball? Why yes, yes it is.

9. 3-Cheese Grilled Cheese With Prosciutto & Nectarine

This is no child’s grilled cheese sandwich (we love that, too, but that’s not what we’re doing here). It starts with Gruyère, sharp cheddar, and Brie and just gets better from there with prosciutto slices and thinly sliced nectarines.

10. Roasted Cauliflower with Prosciutto & Dates

Make roasted cauliflower not boring with sliced prosciutto cut into ribbons and chopped pitted dates.

11. Spicy Watermelon With Tomatoes, Prosciutto & Salted-Lime Yogurt

Juicy watermelon dances with crisp cucumber, plump cherry tomatoes, and prosciutto in this summer salad.

12. Crispy Prosciutto-Rosemary Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Bread)

Prosciutto is often served in its cured form on an antipasto platter with cheese, olives, and nuts. But my personal favorite way to eat it is when it’s crispy and taking a nap on a bed of melted cheese.

13. Chicken Saltimbocca

One of the most classic ways to serve prosciutto is wrapped around thinly pounded chicken breasts, which are dredged in flour and pan-seared until crispy.

14. Lemony Whipped Goat Cheese With Crispy Prosciutto & Pomegranate

Pomegranates are at their peak during winter, which is perfect timing for holiday parties galore. Bring this dip adorned with crispy prosciutto and pomegranate seeds and you’ll be voted the MVP.

15. Smashed Chickpeas, Crispy Prosciutto & Poached Eggs

This recipe is a study in textural contrasts: Toothsome chickpeas team up with crispy prosciutto and luscious poached egg, whose yolk is like an instant sauce. Perfect for a brunch crowd—or just yourself!

16. Prosciutto, Nectarine & Fontina Panini on Rosemary Focaccia

For an easy, breezy summer lunch, take a bite outta this pressed sandwich inspired by the classic combination of prosciutto and melon.

17. Crunchy Spring Salad With Zesty Labneh

This isn’t exactly the type of salad you prep on a busy workday for lunch; you have to blanch snap peas, boil baby beets, whip up lemony labneh, sizzle anchovies, crisp up prosciutto, and whisk a Dijon-lemon vinaigrette. But don’t let that deter you from making it. It’s totally and completely worth your while…just save this one for when you have a bit more time.

18. Bread & Butter Salad With Dijon Vinaigrette

“This hearty, picnic-ready salad is a play on jambon beurre, the classic Parisian sandwich of ham and cheese on a buttered baguette,” writes recipe developer Emily C. Combine buttery croutons with thinly sliced prosciutto and Swiss cheese, sliced cucumbers, Castelvetrano olives, arugula, and Dijon vinaigrette, and marvel at your 15-minute, wholly delicious creation.

19. Mint & Prosciutto Grilled Shrimp

Low-key effort with a highly flavorful reward. Save yourself some time by requesting your fishmonger to peel and devein the shrimp for you in advance (just leave the tail on), so all you'll need to do is skewer them as is before cooking.

20. Ricotta Crostini with Figs, Prosciutto & Honey

Everything about this crostini makes sense. From the lemony ricotta to the ripe figs to the thinly sliced prosciutto to a generous drizzle of honey, all of the ingredients work in harmony together.

21. Leek, Prosciutto & Egg Tart

This prosciutto recipe is a top contender for “your best pizza recipe,” “your best holiday breakfast,” and “your best late-winter tart.” Top the tart with diced prosciutto, thinly sliced leeks, eggs, and Boursin (or any type of soft cheese, really).

22. Vincisgrassi (Wild Mushroom & Prosciutto Lasagna)

A duo of dried porcini mushrooms and fresh wild mushrooms, plus chopped prosciutto, form a hearty lasagna filling that’s an umami-rich alternative to the usual blend of ground veal, pork, and beef.

23. Prosciutto, Pear, Mascarpone & Red Onion Tart

When this hearty tart is baked in the oven, the mascarpone filling becomes ever so slightly creamier, the pears slices become sweet, the sharp flavor of the red onions softens, and the prosciutto crisps up.

24. Roasted Butternut Squash, Prosciutto & Sage Quiche

Our readers can’t get enough of this fall-vibes quiche. Your favorite pie crust will work as a beautiful blank canvas for butternut squash, leeks, chopped prosciutto, and plenty of salty cheese.

25. Deep Dish Sausage, Prosciutto & Onion Pizza

This deep-dish pizza is made for meat lovers; it’s loaded with sausage and prosciutto and is formed in a springform pan, which creates a really deep-dish crust.

26. Crab Mac

I will never, ever get tired of mac and cheese. I will always go for classic, crunchy, creamy mac, totally unadorned. But this version, with a pound of good-quality crabmeat and a little bit of prosciutto, may just change my mind.

27. Colby Garrelts' Grilled Pork Loin with Green Bean Salad

A double dose of pork appears in the form of grilled pork loins and a green bean and prosciutto salad on the side.

28. Grilled Pizza with Figs, Prosciutto, Gorgonzola & Arugula Pesto

Prosciutto and arugula are always a classic combination, but the addition of toasted walnuts, fresh black figs, and Gorgonzola crumbles begs the question: “Where have you been all my life?”

29. Ina Garten's Cauliflower Toasts

Anything Ina touches turns to gold—in this case, the gold is country-style crusty bread topped with roasted cauliflower, mascarpone cheese, Gruyère, and thin slices of prosciutto.

30. Cambozola With Roasted Fennel & Olives

I go to the Met and Guggenheim to look at beautiful art. I go to cocktail parties to look at beautiful cheese boards, and this one is up there with the most attractive spreads I’ve ever seen, complete with roasted fennel, pickled red onions, a couple of wedges of cheese, olives, shelled pistachios, and lots and lots of salty prosciutto.

What's your favorite way to serve prosciutto? Share your ideas in the comments below!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

Former Food52 Staff Editor

1 Comment

AntoniaJames December 27, 2021
https://food52.com/recipes/7311-roasted-cold-weather-vegetables-with-prosciutto-rosemary-and-shallots - Best way I know, this time of year - apart from just putting slices of prosciutto directly into one's mouth, which has happened here, more than once)

and

https://food52.com/recipes/30913-the-north-beach-special - on a baguette with a touch of pesto, or not, and a simple fruit chutney or mustard (non-negotiable)

and

Jambon Beurre - baguette, good butter, prosciutto. There, dinner (or lunch, or breakfast!)