Ham & melon is a classic for a reason – it’s delicious! The salty, savoury ham just pairs so well with the honey-sweet melon. A standard on restaurant antipasto menus, the success of this dish rests entirely on the quality of the ingredients. The melon must be ripe, and the ham a good cured one.
We add even more flavour with a simple mint, lemon, cayenne & olive oil dressing. And we pair with some seeded oatcakes for fibre & more plant variety, to up the health credentials of this simple meal.
We loved this healthy combination so much, we had it twice during our recent clean-eating fortnight! (See other recipes from our clean meal plan, kicking off the our Our Best Healthy Chicken Salad, and followed up with Spicy Cabbage & Lentil Soup, and Mozzarella Caprese Salad +, both coming soon.)
Today we decided to make things more interesting with a taste test. We pitched a galia melon (white flesh) against the more traditional cantaloupe (orange flesh). And we also tested a classic Parma ham against an artisan cured one.
The two melons were the same price; the two hams similar in price, but the artisan prosciutto was slightly more expensive than the Parma. The melons tasted quite different from one another, though the hams were more similar – we’ll give you our verdict at the end!
You could serve the ham & melon just as it is, or with a drizzle of olive oil and a touch of salt & pepper. But we like to add a simple dressing. You could do a classic vinaigrette – see our vinaigrette Tip – but we keep it even easier with a lemon / oil / mint mix.
To make it, first juice a lemon. See our lemon Tip.
Now pour some olive oil into a small bowl, and add the lemon juice.
Season with black pepper and a little salt, then whisk the dressing well.
Fresh mint works really well with ham & melon. Remove the leaves from the woody stems and chop finely. See our herb Tip. Add the chopped mint to the dressing.
We also like to add a little spice. It makes the flavours really sing – sweet, savoury, spicy, sharp & fresh, all at once in such a simple plate! Today we added about half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, but add to your taste, or leave it out or add more black pepper if you don’t like it hot. Stir or whisk well to combine.
Taste the dressing and adjust with any of the ingredients if needed. Today we added a little more olive oil. Your dressing is done.
This dish really needs a ripe, sweet melon. Choosing a melon can be quite tricky, and you’re never really sure if it’s ripe until you cut into it! Our top tips are to look for a melon, whether you choose galia or cantaloupe, which feels heavy, and is golden or brown-ish / orange-ish in colour, not green. Also gently press the blossom end (the one opposite the stem) – it should ideally give slightly (though this is not a definitive test). Finally, smell your melon – a ripe melon will give off a rich, sweet & sometimes musky aroma. If it has no smell, it isn’t ripe (and if it smells fermented it is over-ripe). This smell test is probably the most reliable way of choosing for most melons.
Jake sticks his nose in
A cantaloupe melon is the traditional choice for ham & melon, and it has a distinctive very sweet and slightly musky flavour, and a soft texture. A galia melon is juicer and slightly sharper in flavour, with more tropical notes – it’s actually a cross between a cantaloupe and a honeydew melon. Both are lovely when ripe!
To prepare the melon(s), cut in half. A serrated knife makes this easier – we use a bread knife.
Now scoop our the seeds – this is easiest with a tablespoon or dessert spoon, ideally one with a sharp edge. Now slice the melon, quite thickly – we cut each half into about 4 slices.
Remove the skin from the melon slices by running your knife along them, as close to the skin as possible.
Arrange on the plate with the ham. We like to remove a little of the excess fat from the fattier pieces of ham, but you don’t need to. We plate the ham & melon side by side as it looks so pretty, and we prefer to dress just the melon. But you could place the ham on top of the melon, or wrap the melon slices in it.
Whisk the dressing up again just before serving, then spoon generously over the melon.
You ham & melon is done!
So what was the verdict from our taste test? To be honest it was very close, and both hams & both melons were delicious. However, we marginally preferred the texture of the artisan ham over the Parma, though the flavour was very close between the two. And we also marginally preferred the galia melon to the cantaloupe, due to its juiciness & perfumed, honey-ed flavour. But if serving to guests, we’d probably use both melons together again as the colour contrast worked so well on the plate.
Serve your ham & melon with some oatcakes on the side.
Enjoy!
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