Ham and Cheese Salad with Pickled Peaches

Ham, cheese and pickles are a well-trodden path for a salad the pickled peaches in this salad really sets it apart from the rest and they are borderline genius!

Ham and Cheese Salad with Pickled Peaches.

If adventures in North African/Persian food defined my winter. Then my summer has been all about pickles and salads.

This ham and cheese salad with pickled peaches follows on from the likes of my Panzanella salad and Thai Beef Salad in this season’s culinary ramblings.

I’m certainly not on a diet, I’m just eating a little lighter. A good salad recipe is a perfect way to do that.

Growing up salads always seemed to be a series of incoherent ingredients that were just thrown together. Maybe if you were lucky they were dressed in some form of unrelated dressing.

This ham and cheese salad recipe is definitely not that salad! This is the perfect summer salad recipe!

Everything here is meant to go together, the salty ham and acidic goats cheese are all about complementing those pickled peaches.

The earthy walnuts and grilled bread add both texture and substance to the meal. It is all rounded out with the wonderfully peppery rocket or arugula.

How To Pickle Peaches.

For some strange reason I find pickling fruit does not happen very often. Although pickled cherries are very popular here in Hungary.

It would also seem in my travels this summer that pickled green strawberries are gaining more prevalence but pickled peaches are a little unusual.

The process is incredibly simple and pretty much like all other pickles. You need some sugar and some vinegar and then some herbs or spices. For this pickled peaches recipe, I went with apple cider vinegar and plain old sugar. You could use honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, anything you like.

For recipes like this ham and cheese salad I like quick pickles, so heat up your liquid and then pour it over. It is a process I use in both my Zander fillet with Confit egg yolk and Pork Tenderloin with pickled fennel recipes.

Ham, Cheese and Pickles!

As with most of my inspirations I can’t remember where I saw the idea for pickled peaches the first time. However, it works and it works really well, that mellow sweetness begs for a sharpness to cut through it.

Let’s face it a ham and cheese salad with pickles are just made to be together. They are the basis of so many great salads around the world.

The salty, sweet and sour combination really is the bedrock of so many great recipes. They are the perfect combination of flavour sensations I am to tick as often as possible.

Peaches and ham are also a classic pairing so whilst it may sound a little out of left field the combinations are all pretty classical.