Parma ham surf n’ turf
After my lovely evening with Parma ham I was thinking about how I could incorporate it in my cooking. There are classic, and absolutely delicious matches to the ham, melon, pasta, gorgonzola, mozzarella and everythign else I have forgotten. I wanted to try something I haven’t done before and decided on a Surf n’ Turf, the fishmonger had locally caught seabass that I couldn’t resist.
I couldn’t decide what else to get so I came out with salmon, scallops and some raw prawns as well, much to the fishmongers delight.
I spread the fish and Parma ham out on the counter at home with vegetables, sat down and thought about what and how to cook the food I had bought. I love this process, to imagine what the food will be like, how the flavours and textures will work together. It is always nicer when a new recipe works out but it doesn’t always. I wanted the meal to be surf n’ turf and I wanted to use as much of the Parma ham as possible.
I filleted and salted the seabass to firm up and pan fried it just before serving. The bass is so delicious there was nothing else I wanted to do with it.
There was a bit of meat left on the fish bones so I poached them before stripping the meat and mixing it with fine chopped ham, a tablespoon of cream and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Poached seabass 
The prawns were raw so I decided to stuff them.
Parma ham stuffed prawns
preparation time 10 minutes
cooking time about 5 minutes
oven 180C or 350F
serves 3 as a small starter
Ingredients
- 6 raw prawns
- 1/2 slice of Parma ham, chopped fine
- 1 slice of ham sliced lengthways and cut in half
- 1 tbsp fine chopped leek
Peel the prawn and cut it across the top and remove the intestine. Don’t cut the prawn all the way through and place them on a scewer so they will keep their straight shape during cooking.
Mix the parma ham with the leek and fill the opening in the prawn.
Wrap the prawn with the half strip of ham.
Set aside and keep cool until about five minutes before serving as they won’t take long cooking.
I crisped some Parma ham in the oven, they had it at the Parma ham cooking night and it is delicious. I also cripsed some sage leaves as I love them with seafood.
I pan fried the scallops, poached the salmon and blanced some carrot strips. I peeled and cubed potatoes and pan fried them crispy with shallot onion. When they were almost done I added chopped ham to finish it off. Before serving I added chopped tomato and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Blanched carrot strips 
I had invited a friend for dinner and was relieved to say that despite the many elements, the Parma ham did bring them all together and it worked so well with the seafood.
Food Eat Love 