Prosciutto Shank

[Ursula13]

I purchased a prosciutto shank today at my local italian market. It was $5.00 and weighs about 3 lbs. Now that I have it at home - what do I do with it? I do have a meat slicer - so I can slice it very thin - but is it boneless? Ideas please.

[Batard]

You honestly can't tell if it's boneless? For real?

I'd be making Ribollita or some type of legume soup. I've seen prosciutto shanks at $5 per pound, so you got a good deal I think.

[Andrew Fenton]

Doesn't a shank by definition have a bone?

Anyway, I think you'd use it for any dish that calls for a ham bone. Pea soup is certainly traditional and good.

[Ursula13]

No, I honestly can't tell if it has a bone - it is "shaped" like a shank, but by pressing along where the bone is - I don't feel anything rigid or hard. The label just says proscuitto.

Edited April 18, 2009 by Ursula13 (log)

[ermintrude]

No, I honestly can't tell if it has a bone - it is "shaped" like a shank, but by pressing along where the bone is - I don't feel anything rigid or hard.  The label just says proscuitto.

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Try and bend it?

Or stick a skewer in and see if you hit bone?

It should be obvious, otherwise if you've got 3lb of proscuitto for $5.00 please post the name and address and do they ship to the UK.

[Emily_R]

I think it is unlikely to have a bone -- this sounds like the prosciutto "ends" they sometime sell at a discount price (though your price does sound insanely good), because it has become too small to cut easily on a big grocery store slicer.

[Qwerty]

You could cut it into smaller chunks and make a broth with it. Brown the meat lightly in a saucepan, deglaze with a bit of white wine and then add chicken stock. Add a bit of mirepoix, maybe some thyme, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain, season, etc.

You can use this broth to poach artichokes or white asparagus--or whatever else you might think would be good.

[Jamon.Iberico]

Toss it in the pot with some frozen peas, chicken stock, etc. and make the best pea soup ever.

[tupac17616]

Toss a chunk in the pot the next time you make marinara sauce

[Batard]

I think it is unlikely to have a bone -- this sounds like the prosciutto "ends" they sometime sell at a discount price (though your price does sound insanely good), because it has become too small to cut easily on a big grocery store slicer.

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It is hard to believe that you could get 3 pounds of ends for 5 dollars. That's really cheap even for a shank bone. I doubt it's real Prosciutto, maybe just some cheap domestic stuff. But then what would an Italian market be doing with it? And no one is going to sell a shank that still has so much meat on it that you can't tell if there's a bone or not. It sure is a mystery.

Either way, assuming what you bought isn't mislabeled, pea or bean soup is the way to go.

Edited April 19, 2009 by Batard (log)

[MSRadell]

If it truly is boneless using all of it for soup would be a waste! I'd use a good knife to take some slices off it and wrap those up and freeze them for future use. If you just used the very end piece (about a pound or so) for soup or whatever it would be plenty. There is so many uses for it other than soup I'd tried to save as much as possible.

[Batard]

At $1.67 a pound, there's no way this is real prosciutto.

[Ursula13]

Thanks for your replies. I weighed it and it is 2.87. The label says imported prosciutto. I live in Western PA in a town of about 2000 people. We have a "regular" grocery store and this store. This chunk was in the case of ends of cheeses and other meats. I plan on cutting it into large pieces and cooking with green beans today. Again thanks for all of your suggestions.

[Bridgestone]

I buy these all the time and, "Yes", authentic prosciutto can be really, really cheap.

I'm willing to bet that the ham is boneless and that is has been sliced on a rotary slicer. Eventually, it gets small enough that either the personnel get worried about slicing their fingertips or the customers don't want such small-diameter slices. Either way, it's better to sell, say 3 pounds for five bucks then it is to throw 3 pounds away.

If I find a fatty one I'll remove as much fat as possible and use it by itself. It makes a wonderful fat for use in risotto.

I frequently end up grinding a good chunk or two to when making ground beef for meatballs or bolognese sauce. It makes an excellent, subtle addition.

[le singe qui rit]

I can confirm that you can be that lucky - I bought a similar 2kg shank for £5 in Waitrose (in the UK) yesterday and frequently do buy ends that cheaply. Obviously it helps if you chat them up a bit...

Think the beans idea is a good one. Maybe just cover it, simmer it for a bit and create some good stock, and then go from there. Pea & ham soup is also good, chuck in a handful of mint too.

Edited April 20, 2009 by le singe qui rit (log)

[PopsicleToze]

At $1.67 a pound, there's no way this is real prosciutto.

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There's a way. It could be a price mistake. Or maybe the gods are at work. At one store I went to a few years ago, they had Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds beside the cheese supply with the price sticker of "N/C". That's right -- they were giving them away. It took every ounce of will power for me not to take more than a package because I really wanted to take them all

As for the use, a creamy parmesan sauce with bow-tie pasta, the Prosciutto & some fresh peas would be great.