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Home » Recipes » Appetizers

Prosciutto Wrapped Arugula Appetizer

December 24, 2021 Updated February 16, 2022 by Lisa Goldfinger 2 Comments This post may contain affiliate links

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pinterest pin: a round white plate topped with a dozen or so bundles of arugula wrapped with prosciutto

Prosciutto Wrapped Arugula is the perfect crowd-pleasing appetizer. An arugula salad with lemon and parmesan cheese, transformed into irresistible festive finger-food. Friends and family will devour these delicious bites which my husband adores and has renamed Prosciugula!

This is one of my appetizer recipes that you will definitely want to keep on hand for your next party!

overhead shot of 8 prosciutto wrapped arugula bundles on a wooden cutting board

It's practically guaranteed that anything made with arugula, lemon juice, parmesan cheese and prosciutto will taste amazing. The extra excitement here is that these beloved Italian delicacies are formed into elegant, tempting, flavor-packed bundles that are perfect for parties.

Arrange them on a platter and watch the crowd gather around. These colorful, unique salad bundles are hard to resist!

overhead shot of 8 prosciutto wrapped arugula bundles on a wooden cutting board and a round platter with about 16 of the prosciutto bundle

Prosciutto Wrapped Arugula Appetizer Ingredients

You only need 4 ingredients for this recipe: arugula, prosciutto, lemon juice and parmesan cheese - plus a little olive oil, salt and pepper. The only challenge of this recipe is buying the right kind of prosciutto. 

What type of Prosciutto is best?

  • For the best taste and texture, you'll want good quality imported Italian prosciutto and you'll want the thinnest possible slices that can be handled without tearing.
  • While I can give you an estimate of how much prosciutto you'll need by weight, what's more helpful for determining the outcome, is to know how many slices you'll need and how thin the slices should be. 

seen from above, three different brands of prosciutto in their packages

If you buy pre-packaged prosciutto, pay attention to how the meat is sliced and the thickness of the slices. 

  • Some brands, like Creminelli (pictured below right) slice their prosciutto paper thin - a lovely consistency but difficult to work with for a recipe such as this because the pieces are hard to separate from one another without tearing them. If you have patience though, it can be done and the result is excellent.
  • Some brands have hard, thickly sliced prosciutto, which is also not ideal for this recipe. 
  • My favorite prosciutto for making this appetizer is thinly sliced but not paper thin, such as the Citterio prosciutto pictured below left.  

If you have access to a deli counter that will slice prosciutto for you, you'll want them to slice it so you get approximately 2 slices for every ounce of prosciutto. So If you're buying 4 ounces of prosciutto, ideally you'll have 8 slices of prosciutto. 

overhead shot of two different types of prosciutto, slices set out on a white cutting board

How To Make This Prosciutto Wrapped Arugula Appetizer

  • Slice the prosciutto into bacon-sized strips. Ideally you'll start with prosciutto slices that are between 3-4 inches wide and 5-6 inches long that can be sliced in half lengthwise, giving you two strips of prosciutto per slice. No worries if your prosciutto doesn't fit this description. Do your best to rip or slice it into strips that are about an inch or so wide and 4-6 inches long and you'll be good to go.
  • Whisk up the simple dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper
  • Toss the arugula with the dressing and a few tablespoons of grated parmesan.

Two images: first one shows a lemon, jar of Dijon mustard, hunk of parmesan, measuring cup with a whisk, whisking lemon dressing. Next photo shows a bowl of arugula with grated parmesan on top

  • Place a small pile of arugula leaves about a half inch from the end of a strip of prosciutto - the end closest to you. Make sure some arugula leaves stick out about ¾ of an inch, on each side of the prosciutto. 
  • Fold the end of the prosciutto over the arugula and press down to flatten the leaves underneath.

Overhead shot showing two 1-inch wide, 4-inch tall strips of prosciutto with a bunch of arugula on one end, the next shot shows a hand starting to roll the arugula up in the prosciutto

  • Now it should be easy to roll up the arugula tightly, starting from the bottom, where the fold is, and working your way up. 

overhead shot showing how to roll arugula leaves in prosciutto

  • This method of folding the prosciutto over the leaves before rolling, keeps the dressing on the arugula leaves and not all over your hands. (I learned this the hard way!)
  • Roll the arugula leaves tightly in the prosciutto and then slice the roll in half, across the middle.
  • Arrange prosciutto wrapped arugula bundles on a platter. Sprinkle them with extra parmesan cheese and black pepper, and serve.

Prosciutto wrapped arugula bundles on a wooden cutting board, seen from above

Here's the Prosciutto Wrapped Arugula Appetizer Recipe. If you make this, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!

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Prosciutto Wrapped Arugula Appetizer


★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Lisa
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 32 pieces 1x
Print Recipe

Description

A festive, delicious one-bite party appetizer made with arugula and prosciutto. Easy to throw together and a big crowd-pleaser.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 8 thin slices of good quality Italian prosciutto - approximately 4 ounces. (see notes below)
  • 2 ½ ounces of baby arugula (half a box)
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (Grey Poupon is my favorite)
  • 4 tablespoons good quality imported parmesan (such Parmigiano Reggiano), divided
  • A pinch of salt
  • A few grinds of black pepper

Optional Topping

  • A few fresh basil leaves or un-dressed arugula leaves, finely chopped or slivered
  • Additional black pepper

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper to make the dressing.
  2. In a large bowl, gently toss the arugula with the dressing. Add 3 tablespoons of the parmesan and toss gently.
  3. Slice a piece of prosciutto in half length-wise so you have two strips of prosciutto, each about 1 - 1 ½ inches wide by 4-6 inches long. Place a small bunch of arugula salad about an inch from the end of a prosciutto strip - the end closest to you, making sure that some of the leaves stick out about ¾ of an inch on each side of the prosciutto. Fold the prosciutto - about an inch of it - over the arugula and press down on it to flatten the leaves. Then, using both hands, start rolling from the bottom (where the prosciutto was folded) and keep going, until you have a tight bundle of prosciutto wrapped arugula. Slice the bundle in half across the middle. Repeat with the rest of the prosciutto and arugula.
  4. Arrange the prosciutto arugula bundles on a platter. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of parmesan, additional black pepper, and chopped basil or arugula leaves, if desired, and serve.

Notes

How to choose the best Prosciutto for this recipe

  • For best results in taste and texture, buy good quality imported Italian prosciutto such as Prosciutto de Parma, and look for the thinnest possible slices of prosciutto that can still be handled without tearing. In other words, don't buy prosciutto that is sliced paper thin because it will easily tear. But don't buy hard thick prosciutto that will be difficult to roll. Something in between, such as Citterio, is best.
  • If you have access to a deli counter that will slice prosciutto for you, you'll want them to slice it so you get approximately 2 slices for every ounce of prosciutto. So If you're buying 4 ounces of prosciutto, ideally you'll have 8 slices of prosciutto.
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Method: no cook
  • Cuisine: Italian

Keywords: prosciutto appetizer, prosciutto rolls stuffed with arugula salad

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this recipe, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on instagram with the hashtag #panningtheglobe

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Appetizers, Entertaining, Europe, Italy

Reader Interactions

Comments

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    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Ann

    December 20, 2022 at 11:49 am

    Such a hit for Thanksgiving I’m bringing it to an “Eve before the Eve” party and a New Year shindig. And that’s likely the beginning. This will be on my regular appetizer rotation. And the dressing is so bright we’ve made it stand-alone to enjoy on a salad.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Liz K

    May 14, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    I've made this three times already. Such a great appetizer!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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