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Showing posts with the label Mozzarella

Two variations on Caprese Salad

Caprese with edible flowers and Caprese with tree tomatoes and two basils Caprese is probably one of the world best known salads (and antipasto), and there are many variations, so here a couple more: Caprese with edible flowers I used red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and mozzarelline (the cherry size), plus added some edible flowers (borage and dianthus from my garden, organic of course). Add small basil leaves too before serving, if you like. Suitable also for a cocktail party, and ever so pretty! Caprese with tree tomatoes and two basils I used a mixture of vine tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and semi-dried tomatoes, mozzarelline (but you can use regular mozzarella cut into slices or pieces) and green basil and purple basil leaves. Dress with olive oil and salt. A filling salad or light lunch. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Caprese Salad with red impatiens flower dressing

You know I love eating flowers from my garden (they have to be organic), impatiens have a mild rucola flavour and are perfect for salads. The red ones are the best, I think.  Pick the flowers and then place in cold water to rinse. Put them on a tea towel to dry, then mix with extra virgin olive oil and salt to make a dressing. Leave a few for decoration.   Assemble your tomato, mozzarella and basil for a nice Caprese salad then drizzle with the dressing.  Enjoy! Have a great week! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Caprese with three types of tomatoes and two types of basil

The weather has been strange, one moment sunny and then rainy again, and I needed a colourful salad to keep me happy! So here is a Caprese with bocconcini, and I used cherry tomatoes, beef tomatoes and yellow tomatoes, plus green basil and purple basil. And a few very young leaves of cavolo nero from the garden :-). Drizzle with olive oil, add a pinch of salt, and the sun is shining! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Bruschetta Caprese

I feel like one of those fancy New York bloggers publishing this, as it isn't really a recipe but just a snack, or a quick summer lunch, and mostly it isn't something new and original, probably all the Italian bloggers are giggling too: hahaha Caprese salad, how original! But I just got a new iPhone and I couldn't wait to try the camera out, after all I seem to use my phone as much as a camera as for making calls! For the  'recipe' : well, just toast some nice crusty bread, rub with garlic if you like (not really necessary for a Caprese though!) top with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, and then sprinkle with salt and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. The basil and the black and yellow tomatoes are from my garden, the red ones aren't, no more tomatoes now, but they are still cheap in the shops, and relatively tasty, so I hope to enjoy this kind of salad (or bruschetta) for a few more weeks yet! Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  © ...

Red White and Blue Caprese salad for the 4th of July

I can never get tired of Caprese, the classic tomato, mozzarella and fresh basil salad that represent Italy both in taste and in colour. But just for once, and just for a change, when I picked my cherry tomatoes from the garden I also got a few borage flowers and thought that they may look pretty (and yes, just in case you ask, they are edible), and pretty they did look too!  And I guess it could be a good salad for the 4th of July too if you are in the US. What do you think? Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Focaccia made with the water from mozzarella and no yeast

I saw it done several times in Italian blogs, and since the other day I had some mozzarella from  Massimiliano  I wanted to try it too. I think that I will need to work on it but as a first attempt it was brilliant and I will never throw away the water from mozzarella again!! Please read carefully because I think that some of you may be really interested in this one! I had 200 ml of mozzarella water (you know that whitish water that you get in the bag when you buy mozzarella? Yes, that one!), I put it in a 900ml yogurt container, then I added 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, one pinch of salt, 1/3 tsp of brown sugar and 200 g of high grade flour. I though that it was wise to start with an equal water to flour ratio. I stirred the lot with a fork and covered it. I didn't expect it to rise so much, after 24 hours it was doubled! Maybe it is because I covered it with a good top? I decided to put it in the fridge overnight to slow the process, but the morning after the doug...

Eggplant, tomato and mozzarella, almost a mini parmigiana!

I could almost call these  mini parmigiana , but there is no Parmesan, so I am not quite sure. Still, same principle, but they are little individual portions, and they look quite good for a party, entree or fancy dinner. Slice the eggplants and 'sweat' with salt for at least an hour. Rinse and pat dry. At this stage you can either fry the eggplant slices (with olive oil) or grill/bake them. If you fry them they are tastier, but a bit greasy (remove excess oil with kitchen paper) and it does take time! If you decide to grill them or bake them just put them on a baking tray lined with kitchen paper, brush with olive oil and add a pinch of salt. Place under the grill or in fan oven at 180°C until they look cooked on one side, turn them over and cook them on the other side. The grill is quicker, the oven tends to dry them up, so when I turn them I also cover them with more baking paper so that they keep some 'steam'. I prefer the baking method but for special o...

Homemade mozzarella and ricotta, step by step

Making mozzarella and ricotta at home is possible and you don't need any special equipment except for a brewer or cheese maker thermometer. The basic recipe comes from my book Savour  (page 12-13), it is quite detailed, so here I will do a quick step by step explanation, with a little trick to cut down time.  Start with 2 litres of full cream  not  homogenised milk, if it looks too fat take away some of the cream at the top. Gently heat the milk to 38°C (110.4°F). Add 4 heaps tbsp of live yogurt, in New Zealand I only use Cyclops Yogurt (thick and creamy type) to make cheese. I tried with a variety of yogurts, but this really seems to have the right bacterias kicking into curd action! Stir. Usually I only add yogurt, and then the waiting time after cutting the curd is about 4 hours. if you want speedy results add a little citric acid too. I am not sure how many cheese makers would do this, on the other hand I am not sure how many ...

Artichokes Roman Style, and Mozzarella Croquettes

Kazuyo  gave me 4 artichokes, so we got one each and I cooked them  alla romana,  the   best way to make a few artichokes go a long way. Cut the spikes off, and the stalks and then immediately put the artichokes in water and lemon (so that they don't become black) to wash them. Finely chop plenty of Italian parsley with garlic and a pinch of salt, and use this to fill the centre of each artichoke. Place the artichokes side up in a pot, drizzle some olive oil in the centre of each artichoke and add a little water at the bottom (about 2 fingers). Cover with a lid and simmer on low for a long time (1-2 hours) adding water from time to time. The artichokes are ready when the leaves easily detach with your fingers.  This is Vegan and Gluten Free To eat the artichokes remove the harder outer leaves with your fingers and just scrape the flesh off with your teeth (keep a bowl on the side to discard the used leaves) until you get to the h...

Caprese with Florence Fennel

Caprese with Florence Fennel This salad is a Caprese with a twist: yes to the tomato, mozzarella and basil (all dressed with extra virgin olive oil and salt), but with the addition of Florence fennel. I was curious to see how it would go, usually I don't pair fennel with tomatoes, or with mozzarella, and especially not with basil! But it was truly a success, the flavours, the textures... the colours! A lovely salad or starter. Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini  ©

Mozzarella for my daughter

Photo by Alessandra Zecchini © My 11 years old loves the mozzarella presentation of a TV ad that we have here in Italy, and as a surprise I made it for her. Basically you just have to cut a mozzarella into two, like if it was a bread roll, and put inside a big slice of beef tomato. I also added a few leaves of rocket salad. Then I put some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper on top, and served. One each. Decadent!!!!!!!