Lemony green beans with frizzled prosciutto and aïoli

First make the aïoli.
Put the two egg yolks into a small
bowl (a ceramic soup bowl is ideal) and add the salt and mustard.
Mix
the vegetable oil and olive oil in a small jug with a sharp pouring
nozzle.
Place a damp cloth underneath the soup bowl so that it doesn’t
skid around while you’re making the mayo.
Using a rotary beater (electic
whisk) beat the egg yolks and salt for a minute.
If you don’t have such
a gadget, use an ordinary wire whisk, and plenty of elbow power.
Now,
as you whisk the egg yolks with one hand, pick up the jug of oil with
the other, and dribble a little splash of oil onto the yolks.
Keep
whisking and dribbling, a little splash at a time, with great energy,
and within a few minutes you will see the egg mixture begin to thicken
rather dramatically.
Keep adding the oil, a dribble at a time, until you
have a thick yellow ointment.
You may not need to add all the oil: stop
adding oil once the mayonnaise has thickened to your liking.
Stir in
the lemon juice, garlic and pepper, and add more salt if necessary.
Set
aside.
 
Fill a bowl with cold water and add to it a handful of ice cubes.
Top
and tail the beans.
Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and add the
beans.
Boil rapidly for 2-3 minutes, or until the beans are just tender. (How long you cook them will depend on the size and age of your beans.)
 
Drain the beans.
If you’re not serving this piping hot, immediately
plunge them into the ice water.
Leave in the water for three minutes,
then drain and pat dry.
 
In the meantime, prepare the toppings. 
Heat sunflower oil, to a
depth of a millimetre, in a frying pan.
When hot, but not smoking, add
the prosciutto slices, a few at a time, and cook for a minute or so, or
until frizzled and crisp.
Drain on a piece of kitchen paper. 
Now
crumble the breadcrumbs into the hot oil and fry until crisp and golden
(remember that they will carry on browning once you remove them from the
heat, so don’t let them get too dark).
Drain on kitchen paper.
 
To serve, toss the beans in the olive oil and lemon juice and season
with salt and pepper. 
Pile onto a platter (or onto individual plates)
and top with the prosciutto and breadcrumbs. 
Serve with a large dollop
of aïoli.
 
Serves 6.

Reprinted with permission of Scrumptious South Africa.
To visit Scrumptious South Africa’s blog, click here.