Here at Champagne Cartel, we love parties. Big parties, small gatherings, catchups with your bestie. And of course if it’s a Cartel party then it REQUIRES a glass or two of champs (or sparkling wine) and a nibble of something freaken delicious. We are often asked to share our party secrets, and you’ve also told us you want to catch up with your girlfriends more often so we decided to start up this new series to help you get you all inspired to partay with your laydees. Keep an eye out each Friday for either a brilliant champagne cocktail whipped up by our mistress of imbibing, Carolyn or a tasty plate of something to serve with it from our resident chow-queen, Gillian. So all you need to do is get off your can and make a date with your ladyloves for a girls night in! It’s been too long…. DO IT NOW!
Does it seem weird to serve a salad with drinks? Um, NO! Especially not if you’re getting juiced on the Aperol Spritzes that Carolyn made last week! And seriously this salad has everything that most salads are missing – cheese and meat. The great thing about serving a salad platter like this to the ladies is that it’s quite light, so great for summer. Plus it appeals to the carb-conscious or the healthy eaters, in fact one feels positively virtuous when munching on this one (let’s all just ignore the 6 champagnes you threw back with it).
This salad recipe is a Rick Stein one from his book Long Weekends, with some minor tweaks.
The Italian combination of peppery rocket, creamy gorgonzola, the savoury figs and sweet prosciutto isn’t rocket science, it’s pretty much been around since forever but it’s a classic and so yum. You can serve this salad as it is or with bread or crackers or even better, some of these mind-bending crispy roast potatoes. And definitely with an Aperol Spritz, the slight bitterness will tie in really well with this salad.
Check out my video below and the full recipe follows.
Fig, Gorgonzola, Prosciutto and Rocket Salad
Ingredients
200g mixed bitter or salad leaves (I couldn’t get chicory or endive as it was out of season so used slightly bitter red lettuce)
100g rocket leaves
4 figs quartered
1 pear thinly sliced
10 slices prosciutto or parma ham
50g Parmesan shaved
90g Gorgonzola Dolce chopped
500g ripe tomatoes roughly cut
1 tdsp capers drained
1/4 red onion finely sliced
Handful basil leaves
40g toasted pine nuts (I didn’t have any so used cashews AND forgot to put them on in the video! DUH)
60ml olive oil
30ml balsamic vinegar
edible flowers to decorate (totally optional!)
Instructions
Mix all the leaves together.
Throw on a platter (or arrange nicely, whatever works for you).
Top with the rest of the bits and then drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic.
Toss well and enjoy smashing this away with your mates!
