Cantaloupe and Prosciutto

There are some things in life that are just meant to be together: peanut butter and jelly, cookies and cream, and yes, melon and prosciutto. Who would've thought that fruit and meat would go so well together, but it does. Sweet juicy cantaloupe and salty cured prosciutto bring out the sweet and salty best in one another.

When Chris first told me about Melon and Prosciutto Risotto, my eyes widened in disbelief that I had not thought of this brilliant idea sooner. It made perfect sense. Take the classic combo of melon and prosciutto, and reinvent it via a creamy divine risotto.

Mama mia, the result was just beautiful. The risotto starts out like a risotto typically does -- by softening an onion in some butter and oil, toasting off the Arborio rice, and then adding a generous splash of white wine before simmering broth is added bit by bit until the risotto is creamy and each kernel has a nice toothsome chew to it.

Now here is where the magic comes in. To the risotto, we now add cubes of ripe cantaloupe, ribbons of paper-thin prosciutto, and a shower of parmigiano. The cantaloupe is the real surprise here. This is the first time I've ever tasted it cooked, and the temperature confusion makes you pause for a second. The freshness of the melon comes through though. It really lightens up this comfort meal and makes it fit for spring -- which is not to say that it is any less luxurious. It is still, after all, a lush risotto trimmed with melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto, and garnished with bits of crispy prosciutto. That pork on pork action is celebration enough. The beauty, however, is in the balance.

*****

Over Thanksgiving, I flew to New York to share Thanksgiving with my extended family. After the feast itself, I had a pretty lengthy list of places I wanted to try and dishes I had to taste before leaving the city. And when it comes down to it, Mario Batali's Eataly really deserves its own post. It is quite something--all 50,000 square feet of it.

Eataly is touted as the largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace in the world, and you certainly sense that upon walking in. The place is overwhelming in its variety, selection, and hungry crowds.

Back entrance to Eataly

What Mario Batali and partners Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich (and a few others) have done with Eataly is successfully create a high-end marketplace that has distinct sections so it almost feels like a large, airy hall with its own pizzeria, fish market, cheese market, handmade pasta, fruits and vegetables, and wine and coffee bar. There are seven separate restaurants and they're trying to keep it that way, avoiding Eataly taking on more of a food court kind of vibe. We actually experienced this first-hand when my sister and I tried to finish our slice of pizza at the tables where you order your cheeses and meats. Apparently, so not acceptable.

The nice thing about Eataly is you can literally walk through and gawk and savor without purchasing a darn thing. It's an experience in and of itself. Besides our light lunch, we didn't actually buy anything (although there were dozens of opportunities to do so). I can certainly imagine if you lived in the neighborhood, it'd be a fabulous spot to pop in and pick up some homemade pasta or freshly pulled mozzarella. But I think on your first visit, it's all you can do just to take it all in.

There's the cheese. Oh, the cheese.

The friendly folks at the cheese counter

As if the cheese counter isn't enough, you turn around and there's a nice gentleman hand pulling mozzarella. You must try the mozzarella. It's to die for. It's just a little bit salty, ultra creamy, and perfectly soft.

Mozzarella!

After you check out the cheese, there's meat to be had. From housemade prosciutto to perfectly cured salumi, this is a tough area to pass up. And this is obviously in Batali's genes.

The vast array of cured meats & the meat counter at Eataly

And then, of course, there's the pizza and foccaccia. You can see the gentleman on the top right there preparing the foccaccia dough and that's my little sister Zoe doing a taste-test. She approved. We both did.

Pizza and foccaccia at Eataly

Everywhere you turn, there are little nooks and communal tables for folks to sit down and enjoy their meals, snacks, or quick tastes. This was my favorite part of Eataly, actually. It's very non-committal in terms of actually having a meal. They encourage trying a little of this and a little of that and coming together and sharing them. You see families splitting up and getting samples of things and coming back to show off their finds. And then, of course, you see families just sitting down and having a traditional meal in one of the restaurants.

Sharing a post-thanksgiving Italian lunch

My mom and sisters and I ended up parking it by the cheese counter, sharing a plate of house-cured meats and a variety of cheeses and olives. It was the perfect little mid-afternoon pick-me up.

Our lunch at Eataly

After you do a little grazing, there's always dessert and coffee.

Beautiful espresso machine and sweet dessert options

I actually noticed many people pulling up to have a quick espresso before delving into the market. Smart. You're going to need the stamina. But if you're in the right head space (that it'll be crowded and you don't have the place to yourself), Eataly is not to be missed. It's a visual smorgasbord of the best Italian packaged goods and prepared foods I've ever seen under one roof. If you are in New York and you're even remotely interested in food, this is stop #1.

Eataly
200 Fifth Avenue
(at 23rd Street)
New York, NY 10010
(212) 229-2560
Hours: Market 10am- 11pm daily; for to-go and restaurant sections of Eataly, check the website for more detailed information

Hors d'oeuvres. Tapas. Appetizers. Small plates. There are many names and countries of origin for those little bites of deliciousness. From canapés and dips to dumplings and kabobs, the small plate is varied and versatile. Although appetizers were once used primarily to sate guests until the main course arrived, they have more recently achieved a higher status in the entertaining world. I have attended everything from cozy gatherings to large weddings where only small plates were served. This is always fine with me, as I love variety and a dinner made up of appetizers offers just that.

In honor of Oscar night Sunday, I wanted to share a couple of my own favorite quick and easy small plate recipes. Although I think I’ve only seen one movie up for the Best Picture award (this is the sad state of movie-going affairs in our house after our two favorite babysitters left for college), I see Sunday as an excuse to curl up on the couch with a couple of my favorite hors d'oeuvres and a glass of wine while my daughters comment on the red carpet fashions.

The first recipe is for a white cannellini bean dip. This is my standard appetizer when we have unexpected guests--I can make it in less than five minutes and always have all the ingredients on hand. It’s similar to hummus in texture, but has more Italian than Middle Eastern seasonings. You can make it with or without hot pepper sauce, so you can customize the spices to your own taste. I like to serve this dish with bruschetta, but crackers, pita chips, or bread sticks would work just as well.

The second recipe was created by mistake. I wanted to try out a new appetizer recipe but forgot to look at it and write down the ingredients before I went to the store. I knew the general idea was stuffed dates, but that was it. After wandering around the store and picking out ingredients for the varied dishes I was making that evening for guests, I went home and saw that other than the dates, my groceries didn't include any of the required ingredients. After a good laugh with my husband about my inability to take a list with me to the grocery story, I immediately got to work to see if I could concoct something with what I had bought. I had some goat cheese on hand for a salad, but decided to use it instead as a stuffing for the dates because I thought the velvety rich texture would counteract the sweet denseness of the fruit. I had also gone to the deli section to buy prosciutto for sandwiches the next day. I had plenty, so decided to use a few slices in the hopes that the salty flavor of the cured ham would accent the other sweet and creamy flavors. After tasting one of my new creations, I realized each flavor was too distinct. In the hopes of melding the tastes of dates, cheese, and cured pork together, I set everything in a 350-degree oven for about five minutes. The result was what my friend Jeff called “pork candy”: goat cheese oozing into the sweet date meat with a crisp salty finish. Just the thing when watching those starlets ham it up on the red carpet.

Cannellini Bean Dip

Ingredients
1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp lemon juice
A few dashes of hot sauce
1/4 cup cooked or raw red onion

Preparation
1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree.
2. Taste and add more salt, pepper, lemon juice or hot sauce as desired.
3. Place in a bowl and drizzle the top with olive oil and a sprig of parsley.
4. Serve with bruschetta, crackers, pita chips, or bread sticks.

Note: I am not a big fan of raw onion so I like to sauté the red onion in a drizzle of olive oil for a minute or two before I add it to the rest of the ingredients. If I get an exceptionally sweet onion, I’ll skip the sautéing process.

Serves 4-6 people

Pork Candy (a.k.a. Stuffed Dates with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto)

Ingredients
12 fresh dates
2 ounces goat cheese
6 slices of prosciutto cut in half
Olive oil

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pit dates and remove stems.
3. Spoon enough goat cheese into each date to fill the centers.
4. Wrap dates with between a quarter to a half slice of prosciutto each (depending on the size of the dates).
5. Lay stuffed and wrapped dates on a baking tray.
6. Drizzle with olive oil.
7. Bake for 5 minutes, or until prosciutto crisps up.
8. Serve warm.

Serves 4-6 people