A gorgeous pesto potato salad with homemade pesto and crispy proscuitto. This potato salad is great for a summer picnic, party or any occasion, because let’s face it, nothing beats a good, hearty potato salad!
Hi friends, happy Wednesday! Do I have a beauty today for you! I’m channelling my inner summer vibes here, because I am SO over winter and still have one more month of it left! Don’t get me wrong, a Melbourne winter is nowhere near as bad as a Portland winter, but I’m not entering my 8th month of fall/winter combo and yeah, I’m pretty over it!
Enter this gorgeous pesto potato salad with homemade rocket/arugula and basil pesto. I don’t think you can beat a humble potato salad when it comes to home entertaining. They probably have to be one of the most versatile and easy vegetable to use in a salad.
They’re a crowd pleaser, you can make A LOT of salad, and they’re so easy to and delicious to work with. This recipe is no exception. A few simple steps and you’ve got yourself a gourmet, winning potato salad for crowds.
Crispy oven baked prosciutto, home-made pesto, peas, fresh potatoes and rocket/arugula. AKA the best combination of veggies you can combine into a salad. So let’s get to it!
How to Make Pesto Potato Salad
What ingredients will you need?
For this gorgeous recipe you’ll need the following ingredients;
- 15 or so, small sized white, pre-washed potatoes. The smaller the better, however if they’re really tiny you can keep them whole.
- 100g or around 4 slices of prosciutto – prosciutto is easy to find in any supermarket or gourmet deli
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 3-4 cups of rocket/arugula
- your homemade pesto
Simple and easy as that!
How do you make homemade pesto?
I’ve been loving making my own homemade pesto lately! It’s so easy to do and you don’t need a lot of time or effort, or fancy materials. You’ll need a food processor and that’s it. I only have a little one and it works perfectly. Other things you’ll need;
- Rocket/arugula – this give it a nice peppery kick and beefs up the pesto a little. Basil can get expensive so I’ve gone a slightly cheaper option
- Fresh basil
- Pine nuts
- Lemon juice and rind
- Garlic
- Parmesan cheese
- Good quality olive oil – this is key! Use good quality because it will affect the finished flavour.
How to Oven-Bake Prosciutto
Possibly my favourite part of this recipe – the crispy oven-baked prosciutto that you top on the pesto potato salad at the end! If you’ve never eaten prosciutto before, you’re in for a treat. Prosciutto is an Italian cured ham usually cut into thin pieces and eaten raw.
When you bake the prosciutto, it becomes gorgeous and crispy, so much so that you can just simply break off chunks of it to top on the salad.
To oven bake prosciutto, heat your oven to 180C/350F. Lay your prosciutto out flat on a baking tray, and bake for 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on the prosciutto because you don’t want to burn it. Flip it halfway. Your prosciutto should be crispy and easy to break into small chunks.
How to Bring the whole salad together
Start by laying the rocket/arugula on a large, platter. Add the boiled potatoes and neatly arrange them on top of the rocket. Next sprinkle over the peas and crispy prosciutto.
Take a spoon, and carefully dollop the pesto over the potatoes. Add extra prosciutto chunks and season with salt and pepper.
This is a seriously delicious, and easy recipe for a gathering. It’s quick and easy to make plus tastes so fresh and summery! You can’t go wrong with potatoes, pesto and crispy prosciutto!
Remember, if you make this recipe, leave a comment and recipe rating, I’d love to hear your feedback!
Georgie x
Pesto Potato Salad
Ingredients
Homemade Pesto
- 1 cup rocket/arugula
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon rind
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 4-6 tbsp olive oil, use good quality
Potato Salad
- 15 small washed, white potatoes, halved
- 4 slices prosciutto
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 4 cups rocket/arugula, loosely packed
Instructions
Homemade Pesto
- To make the pesto, place all the ingredients except for the olive oil in a food processor. Blend for 30 seconds. With the motor still running (and lid closed), gently pour in the olive oil to combine. Taste, and season accordingly with salt and pepper. If it's too thick, add a little more olive oil.
Potato Salad
- Half your potatoes, and place in a pot of cold salted water. The water should just come over enough to cover the potatoes. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Keep checking the potatoes. You should be able to pierce a knife through them all the way, but they shouldn't be to the point where they're falling apart.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180C/350F. Place your prosciutto on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until the prociutto is crispy, flipping halfway. Cool, then break off the prociutto into little chunks.
- To assemble the salad – place the rocket/arugula on a large platter. Top with the halved potatoes and the peas. Add in 3/4 of the prociutto. Drizzle over the pesto then add the remaining prociutto.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
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Oh, wow! Thank you for this amazing recipe! I can’t believe how easy it is to make!
thanks so much Campbell! Loving that you loved it! best day ever!
Well I think you found the way to my heart with this one – prosciutto and potatoes!! Love it, and the pesto adds a nice kick too
aren’t they a gorgeous combination! I especially love the crunch the prosciutto adds!
How great is this combination. Aside from being delicious it just looks so great too. Thanks Georgie for some tasty inspiration.
thanks Megan, it’s so fresh and flavourful I love it!