Pea Prosciutto Salad
Bring something new to your summer cookout or dinner table with our Pea Prosciutto Salad! This salad combines sweet peas, peppery arugula, and salty prosciutto with a light Dijon dressing. It can be served warm or cold for a deliciously unique and healthy side!
Next, try our Prosciutto Melon Cups!
I just love a delicious dish that’s also an alliteration and that’s exactly what our latest, salad recipe is! Our new Pea Prosciutto Salad is a quick and easy side that is simple to make, has a beautiful combination of flavors, and is ready fast. The salty prosciutto with the sweet peas and just the right amount of peppery arugula all in a super light dressing makes this unique pea salad one of my new favorite sides!
- Peas – The base of this salad is sweet green peas. We use frozen peas but you can of course use fresh shelled peas, too. While canned peas will work, the texture tends to be a bit too soft for what we prefer in this salad.
- Baby Arugula – This leafy addition adds just the right amount of “salad” texture with a slight peppery touch.
- Prosciutto – An absolutely delicious compliment to sweet peas! While we love a thinly sliced prosciutto for this salad, you could also use pancetta.
- Garlic and Shallots – Just a touch to compliment all of the other flavors. While you could use a sweet onion instead of shallots, we love the more delicate flavor of shallots over onions in this recipe.
- Fresh Basil – This sweet herbal touch compliments all of the salad’s other flavors!
- Dijon Mustard, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper – The base of the super light dressing that just coats it all and doesn’t make it too heavy.
- Lemon Juice and Zest – The pop of acidity to tie it all together!
What is Proscuitto
Often found on your favorite charcuterie boards, Prosciutto is a thinly sliced cut of pork from the hind leg. While prosciutto in Italian can mean any kind of ham, outside of Italy prosciutto mostly means cured ham. Unlike other cuts of pork, like bacon or pancetta which need to be cooked, prosciutto is cured for so long that enough moisture has been pulled out of the meat and it has been air-dried. This makes it safe to eat as is right out of the package. The curing process also helps to concentrate the delicate salty subtly sweet pork flavor.
Easy to Make
One of our favorite things about this Pea Prosciutto Salad is how quickly it comes together! It only requires a quick saute of the garlic and shallot, then the peas with Dijon mustard and salt and pepper before adding it to the arugula. We also love adding the prosciutto to the pan for a super quick fry, too. While you can add the prosciutto “raw” to the salad, we find that giving it a quick fry brings out its flavor even more and adds just a touch more texture to it as well.
Assemble
Once the peas and prosciutto are ready, add it all to a bowl and mix! The dressing on the peas is just enough to lightly dress the fresh arugula for a beautiful light coating without making it overly dressed.
Pea Prosciutto Salad, done! Light, bright, and so many complimentary flavors that all sing summer together!
Recipe Tips
We just slightly prefer it served warm, but it is also delicious when served cold. It makes a great make-ahead lunch, although more than a day later, the arugula will start to get soggy.
While a thinly sliced prosciutto is preferred for this salad, pancetta is another great option. It is also cured and therefore safe to eat “raw” although pancetta is generally fattier and has a stronger pork flavor than prosciutto.
This is totally optional, but we find this adds so much flavor and a great texture. Just a quick fry on each side is all it needs!
You Also Might Like
- Pea Pancetta Pasta
- Arugula Watermelon Feta Salad
- Caprese Zoodle Salad
- Greek Zucchini Salad
- Green Goddess Salad
- Overnight Vegetable Salad
- Whipped Feta and Arugula Crostini
Sure to be unique wherever you bring it, this Pea Prosciutto Salad is our new summer salad!
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
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Pea Prosciutto Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb green peas frozen or fresh
- 3 oz prosciutto thinly sliced
- 2 cups baby arugula 2 oz
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium shallot 1 whole bulb, peeled and sliced thin
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 oz
- 4 teaspoons lemon juice divided
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 8 leaves fresh basil .25 oz, chopped
Instructions
- Prep Ingredients: Add arugula to a medium to large sized bowl and set aside. Chop and measure out the rest of the ingredients and have ready bc this recipe comes together fast.
- Saute: Add olive oil to a medium-sized saute pan and heat over medium. Add shallots and garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add peas, dijon, salt, pepper, and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Mix well and saute for another 3-4 minutes. Add sauteed peas to the bowl with arugula and mix to coat the arugula with the oil and dijon from the peas. Set aside.
- Fry Prosciutto (optional): Add the prosciutto to the same pan and heat to medium. Fry for 1 minute and then use tongs to flip the prosciutto to the other side. Deglaze the pan with the remaining 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and fry for another minute. Remove prosciutto from the pan. Add to a cutting board and give it a rough chop.
- Assemble Salad: Add the chopped prosciutto, basil, and lemon zest to the bowl with the peas and arugula and mix well.
- Serve: Serve either warm or cold and enjoy!
I am not used to adding peas to salads, but this recipe changed my mind! They add a nice crunch and when combined with the rest of the ingredients, and especially the prosciutto, it made this a very tasty and filling salad!
Terrific flavor. Thank you!
I love to hear that, Juyali! Thanks so much for sharing!