Glenarty Road / The farm kitchen
Stracciatella, rockmelon & prosciutto
with basil & grissini
A classic done right. Sweet rockmelon, good prosciutto, creamy stracciatella and basil from the garden. The sort of plate we like to put in the middle of the table when friends come over.
An easy one to have up your sleeve for Christmas.
From Jess's kitchen
The recipe
Jess shared this with our Farm Collective last summer. The easy version needs very little preparation: buy good stracciatella and grissini, and assemble just before serving. If you feel like making them yourself, her original recipes are here too.
01. The easy version
- 1 rockmelon
- 250g prosciutto
- Stracciatella, homemade or from a good cheesemaker
- Grissini, homemade or shop-bought
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- Good-quality olive oil, to dress (up to 100ml)
- Peel the rockmelon, remove the seeds and slice thinly.
- Spoon the stracciatella onto a serving plate and arrange the melon and prosciutto over it.
- Add the basil leaves and dress generously with olive oil.
- Serve straight away with grissini. A glass of Cuvée alongside is very welcome.
The only real trick is using ripe melon, good prosciutto and a generous hand with the olive oil.
02. Homemade stracciatella
- 1L milk
- ¼ tsp citric acid
- 120ml water, divided
- 12g salt
- 0.4ml rennet
- 80ml cream
You'll need a thermometer, muslin and a strainer. Allow two hours for draining. Use clean equipment and refrigerate the finished cheese.
- In a medium saucepan, dissolve the citric acid in 60ml water.
- In a small bowl, combine the rennet with the remaining 60ml water.
- Add the milk to the saucepan. Heat gently to 28°C, stirring regularly. Turn off the heat, add the rennet solution and stir slowly for 10 seconds.
- Leave undisturbed at room temperature for 15 minutes to set.
- Check that the curd separates cleanly when cut with a knife. If not, leave it a little longer. Cut into squares approximately 5cm across.
- Return to the heat and slowly bring to 40°C, gently stirring any large pieces without breaking them up too much.
- Remove from the heat and strain through muslin over a sieve for around two hours, separating the curds from the whey.
- Gently fold the curds with the salt and cream to make the stracciatella.
03. Grissini
- 330g plain flour
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 195ml warm water
- 60ml olive oil, plus a little for brushing
- 60g melted butter
- 1 tsp salt, plus a little to finish
- In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and leave for a few minutes.
- Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and mix for two to three minutes, until smooth.
- Divide into four balls, cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Cut into pieces of approximately 15g. Roll and stretch into thin sticks, around 15cm long, and place on a lined baking tray.
- Brush with olive oil, season lightly with salt and bake at 170°C for 10–12 minutes, until golden and crisp.
The farm kitchen / On film
In Jess's hands
Jess takes you through the full recipe, from making the stracciatella and rolling the grissini to putting the finished plate together.
The full recipe on film.
Christmas
SixSix wines · The gatherings ahead
For the table
Something to open alongside it.
We opened our 2023 Kinfolk Cuvée with this dish last summer. The last of that vintage is drinking beautifully now, with nectarine, biscuit, toasted nuts and a little more savoury depth from its time in bottle.
It's one of the wines in our Christmas Six, a selection for all the get-togethers between now and the new year.
Explore the Christmas Six ↗