Arugula salad with caramelized walnuts and crispy ham

You can give a salad a twist in the easiest way. I strongly encourage you to try this arugula salad with toasted and caramelized walnuts and raisins and crispy ham, together with the apple it's a wonderful combination. And those toasted and caramelized walnuts... Oh, my God! They are delicious!

Although you have to caramelize the walnuts and raisins, the whole preparation is very quick: the vinaigrette is ready in a few minutes, and assembling the plate takes one more minute. I'm not kidding! As for the ham crisp, you can also sauté it in the pan, or you can decide to make it express, in 30 seconds in the microwave. Will you give it a try?

Ingredients (for 2 people)

• 40 gr of arugula
• 1 firm Golden apple
• A good handful of walnuts
• A handful of sultana raisins
• A generous tablespoon of sugar
• 5 tablespoons of oil (AOVE)
• 3 tablespoons of Modena vinegar
• A few shavings of serrano or ibérico ham

Preparation

First we prepare the toasted walnut vinaigrette, which turns out delicious:

1. In a skillet skillet we put the walnuts and raisins over low heat. When the pan begins to heat up, add the tablespoon of sugar and stir by moving the pan.
2. When the sugar begins to melt, the raisins change color (they become a light brown and swell) and the walnuts appear toasted (and the sugar shines around them), we stop the heat and immediately add the oil. Stir with a wooden spoon and let cool slightly.
3. When it is lukewarm, add the balsamic vinegar.

Make the ham crisp:

You can make the crispy ham in three different ways:

1) You put it directly in a pan and heat it. You will see it lose fat and become drier. Remove it from the pan when it's at your desired point.

2) In the dehydrator, which after all just dries things out. It's not a method you can use if what you want is to eat the salad right away, but it is something to keep in mind whenever you have spare space (or a tray) while you're using the dehydrator for other purposes. Take advantage of having it running to make crispy ham and have it ready for lunches or dinners (as a garnish for creamy soups, on toast, in salads, to accompany fish on the griddle... you'll use it more often than you can imagine right now).

3) In the microwave: although I'm not a big fan of using it, it is undoubtedly a great help when drying serrano or ibérico ham: place the ham slices on a plate and set the microwave to medium. The time will depend on the amount you put, but in less than a minute you'll have it ready. Personally, for this salad, I leave it dry but slightly flexible. Don't leave the microwave; remove it when you see it's at the right point.

Prepare the salad:

1. With the help of a mandoline, slice the apple into slices about 3 mm thick.
2. On the plate, place a generous portion of arugula, then arrange the apple slices, pour the vinaigrette, scatter a generous amount of raisins and walnuts over the whole plate and finally crown with the shavings of crispy ham.
3. Enjoy it. I hope you do a lot!

Le Creuset cast iron Skillet pan, WMF XL serving spoon, Laura Ashley bowl