Chilled cucumber and melon soup

The chopped salad beautifully balances the salty fried coppa.

SERVES 4

 1 cantaloupe melon, quartered, seeds scooped out and skin cut away

 3 large cucumbers, peeled

 1 small garlic clove

 12 yellow cherry tomatoes

 100g ice

 1 small banana shallot

 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

 Juice of 1 lemon

 8-10 small radishes, quartered

 Leaves picked from 2-3 sprigs of mint, finely chopped  1tbsp neutral cooking oil

 50g sliced coppa (see cook’s note)  Flaky sea salt

 Crusty bread, to serve

1 Very roughly chop half the melon and two of the cucumbers and transfer to a blender jug. Add the garlic, tomatoes, ice, half the shallot, the olive oil, 1tsp salt and half the lemon juice, then pulse and blitz for 2min, or until completely smooth. Refrigerate until you’ve finished the next stage.

2 Chop the remaining shallot as finely as you can and dice the leftover melon and cucumber into 1-2cm pieces. Combine in a bowl, adding the radishes, mint, a good pinch of salt and the remaining lemon juice.

3 When ready to eat, warm the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the ham until crisp, flipping just once.

4 Meanwhile, give the chilled soup a good stir (it may have separated a little) and divide among four bowls.

5 Pile the chopped salad in the middle of each bowl, add the crisp ham, and season the soups with a few flakes of salt, a decent glug of extra virgin olive oil, and additional lemon juice if you think it needs it.

Cook’s note Coppa is a traditional Italian ham made from pork neck fillet, dry cured in a gentle mix of herbs and spices, then air-dried for three months. Prosciutto would make a good alternative.