Cool rice salads make for the perfect summer side dishes or main meals. They’re simple, easy to make, and easily adaptable to suit your personal preferences. This summery sweet pea prosciutto rice salad is light, healthy and delicious. Serve at your next family picnic or BBQ as a main meal or as a refreshing side dish.

This recipe calls for arborio rice, which when cooked ‘al dente’ has a slight bite, giving the salad some texture. However, feel free to substitute arborio with different rice grains-they have a variety of flavours and textures, which can add a ton of flavour in a rice salad. Also, it is essential that you use a good quality extra virgin olive oil, since the overall flavour of the rice itself really depends on the oil, spices and Parmesan.
Save yourself some time and energy by preparing this salad in two easy steps. Boil the rice in evening and store overnight in the fridge. The following day, simply add the thawed peas, chopped prosciutto and remaining ingredients. This sweet pea prosciutto salad is best served at room temperature. Personalize this recipe by adding any of your favourite ingredients, such as; grilled zucchini, eggplant, or red peppers, grilled chicken, green or black olives, roasted pine nuts or pepitas, feta or goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, flaked tuna, fresh herbs, such as basil, thyme, or parsley,  fresh lemon juice and/or lemon zest.