Prosciutto Cheese and Chive Buttermilk Biscuits

Biscuits are so perfect on their own, turned into an egg and cheese sandwich or for dipping in a soup or stew. These Prosciutto, Mozzarella Chive Buttermilk Biscuits are so tasty and totally worth the bit of effort to make them. I almost always have diced prosciutto or pancetta on hand, its so great in pastas, egg dishes or these biscuits. The crisp salty prosciutto bites with the mild onion flavour of the chive and the shredded mozzarella - what a flavourful combo. There is a few tricks to getting a perfect biscuit and it starts with temperature. To get nice layers and a flaky quality to your biscuit you NEED to have cold ingredients. A bit before I start making biscuits, I toss the butter in the freezer to ensure its good and cold. In these biscuits I crisp up diced prosciutto then place it in the fridge to cool it down before mixing it. You do not want to melt your butter or warm the egg or buttermilk. I use a food processor with the dough blade to start the dry ingredients and butter but If you have a pastry cutter you can use that to work the butter into the dry. You’ll add the flour and baking powder to a food processor and pulse a couple times to combine. From there you’ll add in the diced COLD butter and pulse until the butter is broken up into pea sized pieces. Place the mix into a bowl and add the browned and cooled prosciutto, shredded mozzarella, snipped chives, salt and pepper. Mix to distribute and coat. The buttermilk and egg will be whisked together and added to the dry ingredients. Another tip for a good biscuit is not to overwork the dough. You want to mix until just mostly combined and if you have a Danish dough whisk that helps to not overwork the dough. Its good to have a little loose dry ingredients. You’ll go ahead and plop the dough onto a clean surface. Fold the dough a few times until everything is incorporated. From here I like to cut the dough into 4 even pieces, wrap in plastic wrap and pop in the freezer for 10 minutes to get everything back to COLD. Again - COLD is key to getting those flaky layers. Take out the dough and lightly roll each into approx. an 8x4" rectangle. Stack each piece pressing ever so slightly. Cut the biscuits into 6 or 12 mostly even pieces depending on the size you are looking for. You can see all that gorgeous butter in there - that means it has not melted and will create those layers. I saved the prosciutto grease to brush the biscuits with then topped with a little crack of salt and black pepper.

2½ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 (6 oz) pkg prosciutto, diced
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
3-4 Tbsp. chives, snipped
8 Tbsp. butter, cold, diced
⅔ cup buttermilk
1 egg
kosher or sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

In a frying pan, brown the diced prosciutto in a little drizzle of olive oil. (Note: Reserve the grease) Set in the fridge to cool.

Add the flour and baking powder to a food processor with the dough blade.

Add in the cold butter and continue to mix until the butter becomes incorporated and the pieces are about the size of peas.

Place into a bowl. Stir in the cooled prosciutto, mozzarella, chives, salt and pepper.

In a measuring cup mix together the buttermilk and egg. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until the dry ingredients are mostly incorporated.

Pour the dough out onto a clean surface and gently fold a few times to incorporate the dry ingredients.

Cut the dough into 4 even pieces, wrap with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 10 minutes to get everything good and cold again.

Gently roll each piece out into an approx. 8x4" rectangle. stack the pieces and gently press down.

Cut into 6 or 12 even biscuits. Brush the biscuits with the reserved prosciutto grease, sprinkle with a little salt and black pepper.

Bake for approx 22-25 minutes or until lightly golden.