The Canny Cook Ricotta aubergine and serrano ham salad recipe Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Food The Canny Cook Ricotta aubergine and serrano ham salad recipe By Eleanor Maidment - August 21, 2022 A fabulously light summer salad, great with crusty bread or bulk it out with some cooked green lentils. When the temperature soars the last thing I want to do is turn on my oven. The kitchen is hot enough and I’m happy eating salads all summer long. The other great benefit is it saves electricity, but of course I’m not going to give up oven cooking altogether. Instead, I will try to be more savvy when using it. For example, the oven doesn’t always need preheating. If I’m roasting veggies or traybaking chicken legs, I often pop them in before it’s reached temperature. It makes little difference to the finished result but can reduce the overall cooking time by a few minutes. (I always preheat fully if baking or roasting meat, fish or whole chicken, though.) And whatever I’m cooking, I turn the oven off five minutes before the end of the cooking time as the residual heat is hot enough to finish the job. It goes without saying that you should only open the oven door during cooking if you really need to – it’s much more efficient if you don’t. And finally, it’s also worth thinking ahead. If the oven is going on for tonight’s chicken, why not put a tray of peppers, onions and squash or some baking potatoes on the bottom shelf to cook now then quickly reheat for the following nights? Just remember the top of the oven is hottest, so you may need to swap things around depending on how browned you want them. Ricotta aubergine and serrano ham salad recipe Holly Exley METHOD Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Trim the tops off the aubergines and cut into thick wedges. Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil and spread over a foil-lined roasting tray. Roast for 20 minutes. Mix 1 tsp honey and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Spoon over the aubergines, give them a light stir and return to the oven for another 20 minutes, then set aside to cool. TIP: the aubergine can be roasted a day in advance then chilled until ready to eat (leave at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to serving). Place the ricotta in a mixing bowl and add the zest of 1⁄2 lemon and a squeeze of juice. Season with salt and pepper then beat with a wooden spoon. Spoon the ricotta over the base of four plates. Top with the rocket, ham and roasted aubergine then finish with a drizzle more of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. *This cost assumes you already have some basic store-cupboard ingredients. Prices taken from Aldi and correct at time of going to press. RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Kids can eat for free at these restaurants during October half-term How to make the viral negroni sbagliato with prosecco at home 7 Halloween recipes with serious hex factor Popular in Food Gabriela Peacock 14-day plan Anytime baked eggs May 23, 2021 Joe Wicks’ maple-glazed chicken thighs with Asian slaw June 6, 2021 Mary Berry is returning to TV screens for a brand new June 15, 2021 Eleanor Maidment My summer taste notes July 4, 2021 Uyen Luu’ s sticky mustard marmalade ribs July 25, 2021 Annie Bell’ s white peach bellinis recipe August 8, 2021 M& S has launched a new crunchy Caramilk-inspired golden chocolate spread August 24, 2021 Deliciously preserved pickle and jam recipes September 19, 2021 Gordon Ramsay’ s bang bang cauliflower October 3, 2021 Wow right now Clodagh McKenna’ s speedy family dinners October 24, 2021 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved