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Smoking Chimney

Recipes from a working kitchen · Cape Town

Parma ham, Green fig and Bocconcini Salad

By Marna Ross Updated 12 August 2026 4.80 from 15 ratings Italian
This Parma ham, green fig and bocconcini salad is a delicious starter served as part of a 3-course dinner or can be enjoyed as a light lunch salad or be part of a festive buffet table dish. It can also be served on a romantic evening for two as it is such a beautiful red/pink colour - the ideal love colours! The Parma ham, green fig and bocconcini salad is a lovely combination. If you cannot get the small balls of bocconcini cheese, you can substitute it with fiord de late (also known as buffalo mozzarella). I used to make it quite a lot as a starter in my days at Augusta Kleinbosch Guest Farm. Although this salad is a bit more of a fancy and expensive salad, it is a good choice to make an impression. It is a lovely idea for a Valentine's Day starter or to be used in a picnic basket. Bocconcini cheese is a semi-soft cheese, small mozzarella cheese, bite-seize. This Parma ham, green fig and bocconcini salad are served best with fresh figs (when in season), but I have also tried it out with preserved green figs in syrup and it works equally well. In fact, the preserve's sauce works extra well when drizzled over the salad. Parma ham is nowadays a very expensive delicatessen, but it can also be substituted with black forest ham, which is also a lovely ham. Parma ham is Italian dry-cured ham and hung up for up to 18 months. A very delicate process. Black forest ham is of German origin, the black forest area and is dry cured and smoked. It can take up to 3 months to produce - weigh less in time than Parma ham. I also add a bit of extra colour in this salad by adding cucumber for more greenness. I hope you will find this Parma ham, green fig and bocconcini cheese a colourful salad with a twist! Also perfect for the Christmas table together with the Summer Berry Christmas Trifle.
An elegant salad of cured Parma ham, sweet figs, and soft bocconcini mozzarella balls.
Prep 20 min
Cook 3 min
Total 23 min
Serves 4

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Ingredients

  • 1 pack of lettuce, 180 g
  • 12 Roza tomatoes
  • 1 cucumber, peeled into strips and folded into rosettas
  • 12 bocconcini cheese balls
  • 12 figs, cut into quarters
  • 12-16 slices of black forest ham, folded into rosettas
  • green fig preserve syrup
  • balsamic vinegar
  • balsamic glaze

Method

  1. Wash the lettuce leaves and rocket leaves thoroughly and dry

  2. Add the cucumber rosetta to the salad

  3. Fry/toss the Roza tomatoes in the balsamic vinegar on medium heat, season with salt and pepper

  4. Add the roza tomatoes to the salad and then the ham of choice

  5. Add the fig pieces to the salad

  6. Add the bocconcini cheese balls and if you use the preserve syrup, add that too

  7. Lastly drizzle the salad with the balsamic glaze

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