Spinach, Arugula & Prosciutto Salad with Smoked Cheese & Olive Spoon Sweet

Seasons Greetings!!!

Yes, I know … the title of this recipe is too big .. but I could not ommit a single one of these ingredients … they are wonderful Greek ingredients, which ideally blend together in a dish of delicious contrasts and wonderful flavors!!

This salad is the Greek version of the classic Italian salad with dried figs, arugula, walnuts, parmesan and prosciutto. In this recipe, we keep the arugula and prosciutto (after all Greek prosciutto is amazing), and replace the parmesan cheese with smoked Metsovone cheese, we add some spinach to make it even healthier and replace dried figs with Kalamata olive spoon sweet in Cabernet wine and honey syrup, stuffed with almonds, made by Pyliaki Gi, I tried on my recent visit to the store of ActionAid Hellas.

The, really delicious, traditional products of Pyliaki Gi was presented by Mrs Gianna Balafoutis, the soul of the company. She explained that the way the manufacturing of products is made, is more than traditional. All the goodies are entirely handmade, from the stage of collecting the fruits until their process in the laboratory. Produces are always harvested at the correct time while their preservatives are the unique and scarce natural ingredients that old housewives had: olive oil, honey, salt, sugar and herbs. With no added preservatives and total abstinence from modern pasteurization techniques, Gianna’s delicious preparations earn at once every lover of traditional dishes.

 

Kalamata olives spoon sweet with their unusual but very interesting taste, are a great match for all the other ingredients of the salad, the smoked and spicy Metsovone cheese,  the unique in flavor and aroma prosciutto and the peppery arugula, while the very fragrant syrup with Cabernet wine and honey is used in the dressing, instead of plain honey. As far as walnuts, we use them as powder and add them to the dressing, so that we have a delicious combination of all materials.

Preparation time:   10 minutes

Servings:   6

Ingredients:

• 100 g. tender rocket leaves (I used packed baby arugula we find in supermarkets)
• 120 g. tender leaves of spinach (I used packaged spinach that we find in supermarkets)
• 60-80 g. prosciutto (preferably Greek)
• ½ cup Kalamata olives in syrup with Cabernet wine and honey, drained
• 60-80 g. Metsovone smoked cheese, cut into small cubes (or any other smoked and spicy cheese)

for the dressing:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of the syrup with Cabernet wine and honey from olives
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Chop the walnuts in a food processor so as to become powder.
2. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients together. I use the food processor to mix them.
3. In a large bowl, mix spinach, arugula, cheese and olives and garnish with slices of prosciutto.
4. Sprinkle the salad with the dressing and mix well.

The salad with spinach, arugula, Metsovone, prosciutto and Kalamata olives spoon sweet will pleasantly surprise you and your guests! Have fun!