Thursday, August 7, 2008

Food Forward - Seared Prosciutto Wrapped Endive

I have suddenly noticed a trend in my food preparation... each consecutive night finds 1 ingredient from the previous night. Sort of a leftover carryover. It all started with the Fennel and Apple Salad. I had a part of a fennel bulb left over, so the next night, as posted in "Finocchio Reduex" I mixed that with Parmagiano-Reggiano and Pecans, then stuffed Belgian Endive leaves. Now I had Endive left over, which brings me to this evenings dinner of Seared Endive.

Now, I have to admit that I would love to sooth my conscience by stating that this is just another salad, but, lets call a spade a spade. After all, I stuffed Gorgonzola between the leaves and wrapped it into a nice tidy package with Prosciutto... I am thinking this is more of an appetizer than a salad, regardless of the fact that it is based on endive. I chose to pair this with a nice Muscat Canelli as I like the way the apple and pear flavors play against gorgonzola.

Now I must apologize, because I was so hungry while I was doing this, that I did not stop to take pictures during the process as I have on my other recipes.

Never the less, just as before.... The players:


2 Small Belgian Endive
2 oz Gorgonzola Cheese
2 TB Walnuts
8 Slices of Prosciutto
Olive oil for rubbing

Quarter the Endive lengthwise.
Dice Gorgonzola and place in a small bowl.
Mince walnuts and to the Gorgonzola; toss together.
Lift half the leaves of an endive quarter and stuff with a small amount of the walnut gorg mixture.
Press leaves back together.
Wrap each endive quarter with a slice of prosciutto.
Place a skillet over medium flame.
Brush with olive oil, or even better, with garlic infused or lemon infused olive oil.
Sear all three sides, about 1 to 2 minutes on each side, just until the prosciutto starts to become crispy.


Serve hot as an appetizer for 4, with a nice well chilled Muscat Canelli.

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