Rice Salad with Prosciutto Crudo and Melon
Our summer classic at home. Arborio from Lumellogno that holds the grain even when cold, DOP prosciutto crudo and netted melon.
A classic Italian summer rice salad: Arborio cooked the English way and cooled under running water, DOP prosciutto crudo (San Daniele or Parma) cut into strips, netted melon in cubes, basil leaves torn by hand, extra virgin olive oil and black pepper. Naturally gluten-free. It takes 20 minutes of active work, 16 of cooking and 30 of resting in the fridge. The salt is adjusted at assembly: DOP prosciutto is already savoury.
For us here on the Novara plain, when real summer arrives, rice salad with prosciutto and melon is one of those recipes that comes back to the table as if it had never left. It is the family dish, Sunday lunch under the portico, the light supper after getting home from work. There is no need to reinvent it: it works just like this, classic, sweet and savoury together.
The rice we use for this salad is our Riso Arborio, and there is a precise reason. Arborio is a round grain, rich in surface starch but with a core that stays firm. Cooked the English way in boiling water and cooled straight away under running water, it keeps its whole structure even after an hour in the fridge. It is the right variety for cold salads: it does not stick, it does not turn to mush, it holds up to the resting. We dry it at low temperature in the drying house at Lumellogno, and this slow process is the technical reason why the grain does not crack and does not split open during cooking.
With the prosciutto and the melon there is no messing about: DOP prosciutto crudo, San Daniele or Parma, cut by knife or into very thin slices, and netted melon ripe to just the right point. You cook the rice, cool it, cut the ingredients, dress it with extra virgin olive oil and a grind of black pepper. Half an hour in the fridge so the flavours blend, and you bring it to the table. It is a recipe that asks for nothing more than what it has.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 320 g Arborio Acqua e Sole rice
- 200 g DOP prosciutto crudo (San Daniele or Parma), cut into thin slices
- 1 ripe netted melon (about 1 kg whole, cleaned flesh about 600 g)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 10 leaves fresh basil (a handful)
- to taste fine salt
- to taste freshly ground black pepper
Notes from Home
- Netted melon always, not yellow Honeydew: firm, fragrant flesh that holds the cube cut without falling apart
- DOP prosciutto crudo, San Daniele or Parma: full curing, clean savouriness. Never a generic prosciutto
- Rice passed under cold running water straight away at the end of cooking: separated grain, no excess starch
- Salt added at assembly, not before: DOP prosciutto is already savoury in its own right
- Basil torn by hand, not cut with a knife: the steel blackens the edges and loses part of the fragrance
- Melon cubes and prosciutto strips the same size as the Arborio grain, about 1.5 cm
Method
Cooking the rice the English way (16 min)
Bring a large pot with plenty of salted water to the boil (about 2 litres for 320 g of rice, with a level tablespoon of coarse salt). Add the Arborio rice and cook over a medium heat for 16 minutes, stirring now and then. Cooking the English way, with the rice drained and not absorbed, is the right technique for cold salads: the grain stays separated, it loses excess starch into the cooking water and it does not stick when cooling.
Cooling the rice (5 min)
Once cooked, drain the rice and pass it immediately under a stream of cold running water, stirring with a spoon to stop the cooking evenly. Let it drain well, then transfer it to a wide bowl. Dress it with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and stir: the oil stops the grains from sticking while you prepare the rest.
Melon in cubes (8 min)
Cut the netted melon in half, remove the seeds with a spoon. Peel each half with a sharp knife, starting from the top and following the curve of the fruit. Cut the flesh into regular cubes of about 1.5 cm. Move them onto a sheet of kitchen paper for a few minutes: the melon releases a little water, and this step stops you finding it at the bottom of the salad. Set aside.
Prosciutto crudo in strips (3 min)
Lay the prosciutto crudo slices on a board, overlapping them slightly. With a sharp knife cut them into strips about 1.5 cm wide, the same size as the melon cubes. If the slices from the deli are very wide, cut them in half lengthways first, then into strips. Avoid electric choppers: the prosciutto compacts and loses the structure of the slice.
Torn basil (1 min)
Rinse the basil leaves, dry them by dabbing with kitchen paper. Tear them by hand into rough pieces: do not cut them with a knife, because the steel blackens the edges and loses part of the fragrance. Tearing by hand keeps the colour bright and the fragrance whole.
Dressing (2 min)
In a small bowl mix two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a generous grind of black pepper. Do not add salt yet: the prosciutto crudo is already savoury in its own right, and the melon loses water if it is salted too soon. We will adjust the salt at assembly, at the end.
Assembly (2 min)
In a large bowl bring together the now cold rice, the melon cubes, the strips of prosciutto crudo. Pour in the oil and pepper dressing, add the torn basil leaves. Taste and adjust the salt only if needed (often the prosciutto is enough on its own). Stir gently, from the bottom upwards, so as not to break the melon.
Resting in the fridge (30 min)
Cover the bowl with cling film and leave it to rest in the fridge from thirty minutes to an hour before serving. This is the moment when the flavours blend: the melon scents the rice, the prosciutto relaxes, the oil binds. To serve, stir gently once more, a fresh grind of pepper on top, and bring it to the table.
The Sunday lunch of summer
For us here on the Novara plain, when the real heat arrives and in the kitchen you no longer want to turn the oven on, rice salad with prosciutto crudo and melon is the one that comes back to the table as if it had never left. The DOP prosciutto bought from the trusted deli, a netted melon already fragrant just to hold it in your hand, our Arborio cooled well under running water, a handful of basil torn from the plant on the windowsill. It is a dish that asks for nothing more than what it has: the sweetness of the melon, the clean savouriness of the prosciutto, the firm grain of the Arborio. You bring it to the table under the portico, you serve it cold from the fridge, and you talk about other things.
Lumellogno · Novara plain
Arborio for cold salads
For cold rice salads, with us there is one variety that beats them all: our Riso Arborio. It is a round, generous grain, with plenty of surface starch and a core that stays firm. Cooked the English way and cooled straight away, it holds up to resting in the fridge like few other types of rice. We dry it at low temperature in the drying house at Lumellogno, and this is the technical reason why the grain does not crack on the inside during cooking. A rice dried too quickly, at high temperature, splits open, releases starch on the outside and sticks. Our Arborio does not.
«The salad with prosciutto and melon is the acid test: after an hour in the fridge the grains are still separated, glossy, whole. It is the right rice for the Sunday lunch of summer.» From the Acqua e Sole kitchen, Lumellogno
A word of warning we feel we should give: do not skip the step under running water. The rice must be cooled well and right through, drained with care, left to be dressed with a spoonful of oil before it comes into contact with the other ingredients. It is in those minutes that the dish finds its structure, and that the difference between a clean rice salad and a muddled one is decided.
Questions about classic rice salad
Which rice to use for rice salad?
Netted melon or yellow melon?
San Daniele or Parma?
Suggested Pairing
To accompany this summer salad we like fresh Piedmontese whites, with good acidity and little oak, that hold up to the sweetness of the ripe melon and the clean savouriness of the DOP prosciutto crudo. We happily open an Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG, or a white from the Colline Novaresi of our parts, served well chilled.
As an alternative, a Gavi DOCG from our neighbouring cousins in the Alessandria area works just as well. Avoid whites that are too structured or oaky, which weigh the dish down at a summer table. If you prefer a rosé, a young Chiaretto delle Colline Novaresi served chilled is the right choice.
Riso Arborio Acqua e Sole
Arborio is the variety of choice for cold rice salads: round grain, generous with surface starch, a firm core that holds up to resting in the fridge without turning to mush. We grow it at Lumellogno and process it in our own rice mill, in a closed supply chain with production certified to ISO 9001 and low-temperature drying. It is the rice we use at home for the Sunday lunch of summer with prosciutto and melon, and the one we recommend to you for doing the same thing in your own kitchen.
Bring Arborio homeOriginal Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen in Lumellogno.