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.

Ingreadient

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


• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 lemon, juice

Step by step

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.