The month of March can be a real show-off. Often colder than January, it sometimes brings in sunny days and pretends to be May. Everyone goes out to the street cafes and the market, as if they were run by a remote control. At the market you look for spring vegetables and fresh herbs, but you have to give in to the fact that March is the most greedy month of all culinary tour italy,

The only fresh and local vegetable are the same we have seen all winter long. This is why I don’t have a new spring recipe to share with you yet, but rather am happy to tell you about a very simple dish I found in a rustic osteria behind the market: chicory with parma ham and parma cheese. Cut the chicory in half, roast it with some oil in a frying pan, put it with the cut face up on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Roast it for 5 minutes under the grill or at 200°C/400°F, put slices of prosciutto di parma and parmigiano crumbs (24 month old) on top and roast it another 3 minutes. The crowning glory: drizzle it with balsamic vinegar. If you can find some, accompany it with Lambrusco wine, and ecco!, a savory simple dish.

by Martina Kuhnert

http://culinaryfactorytours.com/parma-ham/