Crunchy Cos salad with dates and ham
Crispy salad leaves and sweet dates pinned down with the salty flavour of the Spanish ham.
lets get
cooking
- 100 g dry-cured Spanish ham (e.g. pata negra)
- 4 dessert spoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 dessert spoons pomegranate molasses (or mature balsamic vinegar)
- 3 dessert spoons brown almonds
- 6 Medjool dates, pitted
- 2 heads of extra crunchy Cos (romaine lettuce)
- 3 sprigs of dill, coarsely chopped
Tear the ham into coarse pieces and fry in a dry frying pan for 5 min. until crispy. Remove the excess fat on a piece of kitchen roll. Place a tiny amount of cooking fat into a bowl, then add the olive oil and pomegranate molasses. Mix to form a dressing and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan for 3 min. Allow to cool on a plate and then roughly chop them. Slice the dates lengthways into strips. Chop the lettuce into rough pieces* (keeping the small leaves whole) and arrange them on a plate. Add the almonds and dates and then drizzle on the dressing. Sprinkle with the dill and finish by arranging the ham on top.
Variation tip For a vegetarian version, replace the ham with 100 g feta cheese or use pomegranates for extra zing.
