Fresh parma ham & minted pea salad recipe

With the sun making a welcome appearance this week and Easter just around the corner, I thought I’d get invest in some fresh ingredients to create a delicious spring salad. I searched online and found an excellent recipe for a parma ham, buffalo mozzarella and pea salad called ‘A Taste of Newcastle’ by chef Andrew Scott. As this contained all of my favourite foods, I gathered together the ingredients and set to work recreating this famous dish and here’s how I got on:

Ingredients: Buffalo mozzarella, parma ham, asparagus, mixed salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, 75g peas, 25ml whipping cream, 3 sprigs of fresh mint, 1/4 of an onion, juice of 1/2 lemon, 25ml olive oil, pine kernels

• Blanch the asparagus
• Sweat off the finely diced onion, add the peas until cooked through with the cream and mint leaves.
• Blitz the pea mixture in a food processor, then season to taste
• Add lemon juice to the olive oil and whisk
• Halve the cherry tomatoes and arrange on a plate with the mixed salad leaves
• Slice the mozzarella, and top the salad with the Parma ham, mozzarella and asparagus
• Pipe the pea puree onto the plate, drizzle the olive oil mixture over the salad and scatter a few pine kernels top

I think this recipe would be ideal as a starter for your Easter meal or could be a delicious lunch on its own. I’ve actually made the pea puree again and have used it as a fresh pesto for pasta, which is absolutely gorgeous! Let me know if you try out this recipe for yourself this Easter and tweet me your photos to @Cassiefairy.