In praise of prosciutto

I have always been a somewhat squeamish diner. As much as I love food, there are certain things that scare the pants off me. One of my most frightening experiences was going for Dim Sum at a renowned eatery in Hong Kong whilst on honeymoon. No one spoke English, which meant that you just had to pick items from the carts moving between the tables, piloted by servers shouting in very loud (but completely incomprehensible to me) Cantonese. They could have been shouting anything: "Get your deep fried cricket larvae soaked in cows' blood here!" "Tasty domestic cat feces marinated in malt vinegar on a nest of goat's hair!" Seriously, it was entirely possible I was being offered monkey brains, as all the doughy balls of what was clearly a sought-after selection of local delicacies looked exactly the same. Fortunately, it was one of those moments when I realized I had married the right man, as he gladly (and possibly too enthusiastically at times for my rising level of nausea to bear) bit into every one, before declaring "Oh yes, that is completely bland pork and carrots, you can eat that!" or more ominously, "Oh no, you DEFINITELY don't want that one...!", and eagerly scarfing down the rest of the offending 'ball of horror.'

One of the things that scares me is raw meat. I think it is in part a texture thing, since there is a distinct slipperiness that I associate with a steak that might, to a less squeamish palate, seem deliciously rare and juicy. Yes, I am the one who orders her filet 'well done' and gets the dirty arrogant looks from snobby servers in the finer establishments. My eldest son has thankfully inherited his dietary courage from his father, and will gladly order monkfish tartare and chow down with glee, while his mother gags next to him, and tries not to think about food poisoning. My daughter has, less fortunately for her, inherited my lack of bravery when it comes to uncooked meat, and is thus doomed for a lifetime of filthy or confused looks from steak aficionados. The jury is out on youngest son, as it should be on someone who doesn't like pasta and (deliberately) mixes lemon curd and nutella in a sandwich. His weirdness is of unknown provenance.

One exception that my daughter and I make in the raw meat stakes is prosciutto. To be fair, I may have neglected to tell her that it isn't cooked, and as a trusting soul, with obviously misplaced faith in her mother's protective tendencies, she clearly hasn't googled it yet. For me, it is because it is prosciutto - it is luscious, salty, hammy, and ultimately delicious. And yet, if you do google it, it seems almost worse than eating raw meat, since it isn't just straight from the pig, it is air-cured. What? The process is probably a tad more complex, but I have visions of them leaving strips of carved meat out on a sunny patio for a few days to 'air' before packing them up and selling them to unsuspecting recovering fear-mongerers like myself. Sheesh Google! Knowledge is overrated! But yet, as with the power of bacon to prevent many an animal lover from becoming vegetarian, the taste of prosciutto has the power to kill my usual resolve to cook the heck out of all forms of meat. Ignorance is, in some cases, no bad thing. (But don't tell my children I said that...)

This recipe highlights prosciutto by making it a topping on a delicious bed of creamy risotto. Far from an afterthought, this renders the prosciutto a salty foil to the creamy, cheesy pillow on which it lies. So pour yourself a glass of something full-bodied, switch off google and enjoy, safe in your own relative ignorance :-)

Sage, Mozzarella and Prosciutto Risotto
Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
Serves 6

42 fluid ounces of chicken stock/broth
1 TBSP salted butter
1 1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 1/2 cups finely chopped leek
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/4 cups arborio rice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup dry white wine
grated zest of one lemon
3 TBSP finely chopped fresh sage
1 TBSP lemon juice, plus more to taste
6 oz chopped fresh mozzarella (low moisture works best)
4 oz prosciutto, chopped

1. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer and keep it warm over a low heat.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter with the olive oil over a medium heat in a separate large pan. Add the leek and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the leek is softened.
3. Add the rice, salt and pepper and continue to cook, stirring, for one minute. Then pour in the wine, reduce the heat to low, and let the mixture simmer until the liquid is almost evaporated.
4. Begin adding the broth, a ladle-ful at a time, letting each portion of broth almost evaporate, before adding more. You will need to stir the mixture frequently at this point, to determine when it needs more broth, and also to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan.
5. After about 20 minutes, you should be just about out of broth, and if you taste it, the rice should be cooked (not soggy, slightly al dente). At this point, stir in the sage, lemon zest and juice, and taste to see if you want to add more juice.
6. Remove from the heat, quickly stir in the cubed mozzarella and then spoon immediately on to plates (if you wait too long, the mozzarella becomes very stringy and it is impossible to get it out of the pan without leaving strings of cheese all over the kitchen!).
7. Top with the prosciutto and serve straight away with a green salad.