Hut hit

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 50 g ham (e.g. South Tyrolean, Black Forest)
• 2 m.-large shallot(s)
• 45 g Parmesan, freshly grated
• 200 g cream cheese
• 100 g sour cream
• 1 tsp mustard
• 3 tbsp cream
• ½ tsp sugar
• ½ tsp paprika powder
• Salt
• Pepper, from the mill

Instructions

Working time approx. 5 minutes; Total time approx. 5 minutes

Alpine cream cheese preparation with ham

I recently discovered a similar cream cheese preparation in the supermarket – ridiculously expensive and with many unnecessary additives – but here I’m serving the far superior original from the Alps, as offered in some alpine huts, for a fraction of the price. Heat a pan. Cut the ham into fine cubes (approx. 3 mm) and fry until crispy. Only if the ham contains no fat, add a little olive oil to the pan. Meanwhile, finely dice the shallots. Remove the ham cubes from the pan and let them cool on a plate, leaving the fat in the pan. Fry the shallot cubes until golden brown, this takes about a minute. Let cool. Stir in all the remaining ingredients until smooth (add a little more cream if desired), stir in the ham and shallots along with the cooking fat, season again – and you’re done. Garnish with chives or onion greens, if desired. Delicious with fresh farmhouse or onion bread. Serve as a dip with crackers or grissini. Mix with a little milk as a filling for baked potatoes. Beat two eggs and mix into freshly cooked pasta, adding a little pasta water—the sky’s the limit. Keeps for about a week.