13 Ideas for What to Do with Prosciutto Ends

If you want to add some fun and flavor to your favorite food, prosciutto ends might be a great way to do so.

Due to their strong taste, they make every dish more interesting and add a special touch. However, if you lack inspiration and wonder what to do with prosciutto ends, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, I’ll present various ideas for using this delicious ingredient in dishes. You can do many things with old prosciutto ends, including making stock for soups and stews, using it for seasoning, rendering it down to fry other foods, combining them into an omelet, making pizza, risotto, calzones, and much more.

Table of Contents

1. Make Stock

If you have the bone, prosciutto ends might be an excellent ingredient for making stock.

Simmer the bone, add vegetables, spices, and herbs according to your preferences, and you’ve got you a delicious stock.

You can use the stock as a base for developing various sauces or soups.

2. Use for Seasoning

Another way to use prosciutto ends is to season other dishes with them. Depending on the amount of meat you have, you can use the ends for salads, sauces, purees, etc.

3. Pair with Eggs

Prosciutto ends can be a great addition to scrambled or boiled eggs and omelets. The ends will give the eggs a touch of extra flavor, making your eggs even tastier.

4. Combine with Different Ingredients

Although prosciutto is used raw, you can add prosciutto ends to your favorite dishes to enhance the flavor.

For example, you can throw in prosciutto ends and cook them with lentils, beans, green peas, cabbage, etc.

After you’ve finished cooking, you can take the prosciutto ends out. You’ll notice your dish has a different, meatier aroma.

5. Make Lard Bread/Prosciutto Bread

You can cut prosciutto ends into cubes, add them to the dough, and make delicious prosciutto bread.

If you want to spice things up, you can add various herbs, cheese, and mushrooms to the bread, and you’ll have yourself a simple but delicious meal.

6. Add to Risotto

Prosciutto ends can be a great addition to your risotto.

Chop the ends into small cubes and toss them with your risotto. Make sure not to cut them into large cubes since they will be chewy.

7. Make Meatballs

If you have a food processer, you can use prosciutto ends to make your own meatballs. Add the ends, hamburger mix, eggs, spices, and bread crumbs, and create your signature meatballs.

8. Use as a Pizza Topping

You can add the smoked flavor to your pizza.

Cut the prosciutto ends into small pieces and sprinkle them over the top. If you want, you can put the pizza back in the oven to get a crunchy, crispy texture to the prosciutto.

9. Sauté

You can sauté prosciutto ends with onions, mushrooms, etc. After sautéing, you can use the mix to create various pasta sauces.

10. Add to Tomato Soup

Prosciutto ends are great in tomato soup. If you want to enrich your soup, you can add the prosciutto ends. Once the soup is done, you can take out the ends.

11. Stuff in Calzones/Strombolis

You can create a unique recipe for a calzone or Stromboli by adding prosciutto ends. Your dishes will have a smoked aroma that will make everyone ask about your secret ingredient.

12. Keep Them in the Freezer

If you have prosciutto ends but you’re still unsure what to do with them, you can chop them up and put them in the freezer. That way, once you figure it out, you can take a certain amount out and leave the rest in the freezer.

13. Save Them as Treats for Your Pet

Here’s a creative idea. You can also consider saving your prosciutto ends as an occasionally treat for your pet.

Of course, be sure to do your research to ensure that prosciutto is safe for your pet to eat. Check out my articles on whether or not prosciutto can be eaten by cats or dogs.

Recipes With Prosciutto Ends

If you need inspiration for what to do with prosciutto ends, here are some interesting recipes:

Italian-Style Beans

Ingredients

2 cups of beans (red kidney or cannellini) and make sure you soak them in water the night before
½ lb. of prosciutto ends (with bones)
1 peeled onion
1 garlic (slice it at the top to expose the cloves)
1 bunch of marjoram
8 cups of cold water

Directions

Set your oven to 300° Fahrenheit.
Rinse out the beans.
Put the beans in a large pot and cover them with water.
Bring them to a boil, cook for five more minutes, and then remove the water.
Mix the beans with prosciutto ends, marjoram, onion, garlic, and water in a Dutch oven, and bring to a boil.
Cover the Dutch oven with a lid and bake for 2-2.5 hours.
Remove the prosciutto ends, onion, garlic, and marjoram.

Your beans are ready! The prosciutto ends and bones will give an enriched, deep flavor to your dish and provide a firmer texture.

Prosciutto Bread

If you’re looking for a simple and quick way to use your prosciutto ends, look no further. You can make prosciutto bread and serve it for dinner or as an appetizer.

Take Italian bread or pizza dough and roll it in a rectangle shape.
Cut the prosciutto ends into small cubes, and spread them across the dough. If you want them crispy, you can first fry them in a pan.
Add a bit of oil.
Roll the dough into a loaf and bake it according to your preferences.

Prosciutto and Bean Soup