Fig and ham salad with chili
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- Easy
- Serves 2
Ingredients
- 6 ripe purple figs
- 4 thick slices of ham, preferably smoked
- Brebis or feta cheese
- Two or three medium-sized tomatoes
Cos lettuce leaves, although any good salad greens would do (rocket is a bit overpowering for this salad)
- 1-2 tbsp good-quality chili-infused olive oil
- Juice of one lemon
Method
- STEP 1Roughly chop, wash and shake dry the salad greens, using a spinner if you have one; otherwise pat them dry in a tea-towel.
- STEP 2Take each slice of ham and roll it lengthways. Then slice the roll into half-inch (10-12mm) sections, so you have bite-sized rolls of ham. They should stay together but it doesn't really matter!
- STEP 3Cut about 16 bite-sized cubes of the cheese. Brebis (a sheeps-milk cheese from the South of France) is my favourite, but good Greek feta is very similar: strong-tasting and crumbly in the mouth
- STEP 4Quarter the tomatoes
- STEP 5Halve the figs. Cut off the stems at the top but leave the skin on!
- STEP 6Combine all the ingredients. I prefer to layer my salads (greens first, then the ham, them tomatoes and figs, all topped with the cheese) rather than tossing them, but you can do what you like!
- STEP 7Drizzle the chili oil over the top making sure the figs and cheese get generous amounts. Use more if you like!
- STEP 8Sprinkle the lemon juice over everything!
- STEP 9Relax, eat and enjoy. This is the perfect meal for a long warm summer evening. It goes really well with a glass or two of very cold white wine, preferably Sauvignon Blanc or even a very dry Gewurztraminer.
