Prosciutto & Egg Sandwiches Sponsored by Icons of European Taste

When you have really good quality ingredients, you don’t need to make things overly complicated. That’s why I’m super excited to partner with the Icons of European Taste on this recipe post!

Icons of European Taste is a joint promotional campaign to promote Prosciutto di San Daniele, Grana Padano and Prosciutto di Parma. I received a little care package that contained all of the above, and a crusty loaf of bread. Immediately my mind went to making a sandwich, just because I love the simplicity of it and I always feel like prosciutto is underutilized in breakfast sandwiches, especially here in NYC.

Before I even get to the recipe, let’s just talk about prosciutto for a minute. Below are some details for each type of prosciutto, and this should help you when selecting the right kind of prosciutto you want.

• Italy is home to the world’s best known and finest air–cured prosciutto. But if you go to the store and request “prosciutto,” chances are you won’t get the authentic 100% natural prosciutto from Italy. You need to specifically ask for prosciutto by production area– Prosciutto di San Daniele, the San Daniele del Friuli region, farther to the north or Prosciutto di Parma, the Parma region.
• Their ID is fire-branded onto each ham
• These prosciutti have a lot in common. Both are:
  • PDO-certified by the EU –your guarantee quality and authenticity
  • produced using similar traditional methods under very strict supervision
  • produced using only two ingredients– locally sourced pork and sea salt

Prosciutto di Parma:

• Air-cured prosciutto made only in Italy & sold all over the world–also called Parma Ham.
• The hams are aged for at least 400 days
• For serving:
  • Drape slices over fresh figs or slices of melon, pear, kiwi or mango.
• Wrap it around breadsticks.
• Arrange strips over hot pizza.
• Use in a sandwich with sliced mozzarella cheese, lettuce and tomato
• Wine: Sparkling wine or fruity white wines are best with Prosciutto di Parma because it works well with the slightly salty, sweet flavor of the ham
• When purchasing at the deli counter ask the clerk to show you the Parma Crown branded onto the skin of the leg of prosciutto
• If purchasing pre-sliced in packages, look for the large black triangle with the gold Parma Crown in the upper left corner of the package

Prosciutto di San Daniele:

• This product is produced in North Eastern Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giuila region
• Prosciutto di San Daniele is all-natural and dry cured for at least 13 months
• Only the selected thighs from Italian pigs; sea salt, and the microclimate (air) of San Daniele de Friuli are used in making this product
• For serving:
  • Delicious as is, sliced thinly and draped onto an antipasto platter.
  • Cut into thin strips and use it to top poached eggs, salads, creamy pasta or hot pizza.
• Wine: Sparkling wine or fruity red and white wines are best with Prosciutto di San Daniele because they work well with the slightly salty, sweet flavor of the ham.
• At a deli counter, ask the clerk to show you the San Daniele “SD” inside the shape of ham branded onto the skin of the whole ham.

About Grana Padano:

• Italy’s most popular hard grating cheese. “Grana” actually means hard grating cheese and “Padano” refers to the region in Northern Italy where the cheese must be produced
• Grana Padano is made with partially skimmed raw cow’s milk from the production area.
• Like all authentic PDO-certified products, Grana Padano is made under strict supervision using the same traditional methods used by the monks who created this cheese over 1000 years ago
• Grana Padano has a finely grained texture a minimum 9 in order to be tested and fire-branded and can age to over 24 months
• Serve Grana Padano on its own, as an appetizer in small chunks with olives, and nuts.
• It’s also perfect to grate over risotto, pasta or soup
• Top steamed vegetables—green beans, broccoli, whatever you like—with grated Grana Padano mixed with breadcrumbs and a little olive oil. Run under the broiler to make a quick gratin. This way you need less salt but achieve a great taste
• Wine: Sparkling wine or fruity red and white wines are best with Grana Padano

And there you have it! Now that you know a little bit about the ingredients, let’s get to the recipe.

I liked the eggs scrambled for this sandwich, but you’re welcome to experiment with fried eggs as well. I also used about 4 slices of prosciutto for each sandwich, because it’s such a thin-sliced meat, I wanted it to stand out. Obviously you can add/subtract as you like! I also made a second version of the sandwich with tomato and avocado, but truthfully, I felt like it wasn’t necessary. If that’s your speed though, go for it.

Additionally, I recommend having a microplane, so you can grate the cheese directly on top of the hot eggs and then again on top of the prosciutto. You can buy one here!

This post was written in partnership with Icons of European Taste. All opinions (and bad jokes) are my own.