Rutland Charcuterie Duck Proscuitto with Chicory, Orange and Pistachio

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

40g Sliced duck prosciutto

2 heads of chicory

1 Handful of mixed leaves

1 orange, segmented

4 radishes thinly sliced

For the dressing

1 tbsp roughly chopped pistachios

½ tbsp finely chopped chives

½ tbsp orange blossom honey

2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

For the orange fluid gel

200ml Freshly squeeze orange juice (smooth)

1 tbsp ultratex

A super simple salad showcasing an amazing product recently re-introduced by the folks at Rutland Charcuterie- Carefully sourced free range duck breast, cured with fennel and coriander before air drying and slicing wafer thin, I could eat it all day!

It seems you can’t watch an episode of Masterchef or the Great British Menu these days without seeing the chefs knocking up ‘fluid gels’ out of everything and ‘swiping’, ‘blobbing’ or more fashionably now ‘splatting’ them all over the place- There are a few ways to make a fluid gel, but the thing is, as with many modern techniques, it is about as technically difficult as making Angel delight- by far the simplest way I’ve found is to buy yourself some Ultratex, it’s a modified maize starch, blend it in to anything and you’ve got yourself a fluid gel- now go on, get your Masterchef application in, you got this!

Method

To make the fluid gel, blend the orange juice and Ultratex in a food processor for 10-20 seconds, use a table spoon to swipe/blob/splat over one or two serving bowls.

Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad, lightly toss and assemble in the bowl(s)

Nb, Waitrose now do an awesome mixed salad with pea shoots and viola flowers that I used here