Waitrose and Partners
Melon & jamón with requesón

Melon & jamón with requesón

A quick homemade cheese (requesón) takes melon and cured meat to a new level in this recipe by José Pizarro, but you could use ricotta instead with a small squeeze of lemon juice to add some acidity. 

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Gluten freeHealthyLow in saturated fat
  • Serves6
  • CourseStarter
  • Prepare15 mins
  • Cook20 mins
  • Total time35 mins
  • Plusstanding + chilling

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe cantaloupe melon
  • 2 x 55g packs No.1 Hand Carved Jamón Ibérico de Bellota
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ x 25g pack basil, leaves picked

Requesón

  • 1 L Waitrose Duchy Organic Unhomogenised Whole Milk
  • 3 cloves


  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 1 lemon, juice

Method

  1. To make the requesón, pour the milk into a large pan. Add the cloves and peppercorns with a pinch of salt, then heat until it reaches 85°C on a digital thermometer or the milk just starts to simmer (15-20 minutes over a medium heat). Remove from the heat and add the juice of 1 lemon; stir. Stand for 10 minutes until the curds have separated from the liquid whey (the mixture should look ‘scrambled’ and lumpy). If they haven’t separated, you may need to add a bit more lemon juice, 1 tbsp at a time.

  2. Line a colander with muslin, stand over a bowl and pour in the milk mixture. Remove the cloves and peppercorns with a fork, then let stand for 30 minutes. Gently squeeze any liquid from the curds, then tip into an airtight container, seal and chill for at least 2 hours. Discard the whey.

  3. For the salad, halve and deseed the melon, then cut away the skin and slice into thin wedges. Arrange on a platter with the jamón. Crumble the requesón over the top; season with sea salt flakes and some black pepper. Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil, then scatter with the basil leaves and serve.

Nutritional

Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe

Energy

844kJ/ 203kcals

Fat

12g

Saturated Fat

3.5g

Carbohydrates

11g

Sugars

10.1g

Fibre

4.2g

Protein

11g

Salt

1.3g

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