Prosciutto wrapped Brie Bites with Rosemary Crusted Walnuts

The day is quickly approaching (18 days!!!) until we move from Berlin back to the US.

How do I feel about this? Excited, sentimental, happy, sad, and totally underprepared, to name a few of my many bursting emotions. But (most of all?) frantic to enjoy as much of the amazingly underpriced foods here in Germany as possible before I leave.








Schwarzwälder Schinken (translated black forest ham), for one, has been one of our staples while we have lived here. It's basically the German version of prosciutto and will make going back to what Americans call "black forest ham" for our go-to deli meat sandwiches nothing short of unbearable.






So the other day I opened my fridge and packages of Schinken, wedges of brie cheese, and bars of yogurt filled chocolate started avalanching down upon me. Somehow I had unwittingly bought a million packages of each in my frenzy to soak up the last bit of these delicacies. 

The chocolate I didn't have to worry about, I could easily find a place for all of it. But for the rest, I had to think of some evil plan to use it all up.

And here it is:

These turned out even better than I imagined when I was dreaming them up in the midst of that avalanche. The rosemary crusted walnuts alone are worth making, and I highly suggest making a double batch so you can snack on them on their own. 

I saw a bunch of jams on sale for a buck at the grocery store the day before making these and after digging through them for about five hours, I finally decided on gooseberry ginger (since it said "enjoy with brie cheese" on the jar). It was a good decision. It went awesomely with my brie bites, but any flavor will do. Try fig, apricot, or raspberry if you can't find gooseberry. 

• Prosciutto wrapped Brie Bites with Rosemary Crusted Walnuts
• Should make about 20 
• 
  
• A sprig of fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons jam, plus more for dipping (I used ginger gooseberry jam, but apricot, fig, or raspberry would also be great! Get creative!)
• A dash of salt
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 wedge (about 7 oz.) brie cheese
• About 6 oz. Prosciutto (thinner and fattier prosciutto works best because it sticks better to the cheese)
• 
  
• Chop up the Rosemary. Put the walnuts, jam, sugar, salt and rosemary in a pan (I used a cast iron skillet) and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is melted and everything is coating the nuts (I use this small metal spatula to stir and them and periodically scrape it off onto the nuts with a knife as the sugar gets stuck to it). Set the nuts cooked nuts aside. 
• Cut the cheese into chunks (whatever size you want them to be) and place a nut on each one and then wrap tightly in prosciutto. Try to make sure that the cheese is completely covered. Secure with a toothpick, poking the toothpick through the walnut at the bottom.  
• Place them all back in the cast iron skillet (or on a baking sheet) and broil on high in the oven until the cheese is melted (About 5 minutes). It's okay if a little cheese leaks out onto the pan, just scrape it up and eat it! 
• Serve immediately and dip in jam. If you are dipping in the jam, you may want to warm it up in the microwave or on the stove so that it isn't too thick for dipping. Otherwise you can just apply it with a spoon. Enjoy!