Grilled Mozzarella and Prosciutto Balls

These are inspired by a recipe by South African chef Reuben Riffel (his "Buffalo Bomb" from his cookbook Braai). Yum! They're very easy to make and are a nice, salty, and creamy side. Feel free to use store bought pesto. I just made a teeny portion of pesto by chopping up some basil, garlic, almonds, and pecorino and mixing in some olive oil. You could also get smaller mozzarella balls and make these hors d'oeuvres size, too. 

Tricolore Salad with Eggplant, Peppers, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella

This is another delicious recipe from Plenty. It's a really great, light side dish. The mix of textures is really nice - the soft eggplant and mozzarella and the crispy peppers. It seems like a lot of capers, but they get mixed in and it's just right. The cilantro adds a nice, fresh flavor on top. Can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch!

Ingredients:

4 small eggplants, sliced into 1/2" circles

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 yellow pepper, in about a 1/2" dice

15 grape tomatoes, quartered

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 1/2 tbsp capers, plus 1 tbsp of the brine

5oz fresh mozzarella

1 cup roughly chopped cilantro

Steak Salad with Chimichurri Dressing

On a hot summer night, a salad always tempts me. I'd also been craving red meat, so a steak salad seemed like the obvious choice. I used this recipe from Epicurious, with a few changes and additions. It was absolutely delicious - great garlic/herb flavor from the chimichurri mixed with the savory of the meat and the creaminess of the mozzarella. Really good summer dish - Jamie was raving about it.

(serving 2)
Ingredients:
1 sirloin steak
1 bunch haricots verts
1/2 container of grape tomatoes, halved
1 bunch parsley
2 tsp dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp chipotle hot pepper sauce
mixed greens
8 marinated mozzarella balls, sliced

Easy Pasta with Fresh Tomato, Mozzarella, and Garlic Sauce

This is one of the easiest dinners - and one of the tastiest. It's best in summer when the tomatoes are fresh and ripe, but can be done in the winter with good looking grape tomatoes. I had the supplies already (tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, mozzarella) so I threw it together this morning before leaving for work. The longer it sits the better it tastes. It's so fresh and delicious and tastes like summer with its bright flavor. Mmm.

Ingredients:
Tomatoes, torn into bite size pieces (this makes it juicier) or chopped, about a cup
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
good pour of extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4-1/3 cup
about 1/2 cup of diced fresh mozzarella
teaspoon kosher salt
pinch hot pepper flakes
basil or parsley, chopped

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let sit. If it's more than a couple of hours before dinner, put it in the fridge. If not, just leave it out. Salt/add more spice to taste. Toss with hot pasta (fusilli or bow ties or other bite sized pasta is best) and top with freshly chopped parsley or basil.

Grilled Pizza

Grilled pizza is a great thing to do in the summer with a group of people. Last weekend was unseasonably warm and I was out in Long Island with a few friends, so I thought we should try a grilled pizza. We had a couple of other things in the works for dinner, so we just made one and had it as an appetizer, but it's fun to split the dough up and have everyone do their own--picking sauce and toppings etc. We made our own dough, but you can buy it too. You can often find fresh pizza dough in the bakery section of your grocery store, or you can get frozen pizza dough. I use Mario Batali's recipe for pizza dough. The honey gives it a nice sweetness and the wine adds a little flavor. (Jamie made the dough--it's his specialty.) I made a quick sauce, but you can buy pizza sauce too. We just put chorizo on top, which was really good and gave it a kick, but use any toppings you want. (Use the chorizo if you want to make the calamari after.)

Dough:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/pizza-dough-recipe/index.html

Sauce:
1 can whole tomatoes and their juices (cut or squeezed into chunks)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 sprig thyme
olive oil

Topping:
Mozzarella cheese, sliced
loose Chorizo
finely grated Pecorino Romano

Directions:
First, make the dough and let it rise. Then make the sauce: In a medium sized skillet, sautee the onion with olive oil until it started to soften, then add the garlic and stir until it is fragrant. Once you smell the garlic, add the tomatoes (to keep the garlic from burning) and the thyme. Stir it all together and let it simmer until the sauce is thick.

For the chorizo, heat a little olive oil in a skillet and add the loose sausage. Break it up with a wooden spoon while it cooks so it's in bite-sized pieces. When it's just cooked through, remove the pieces with a splotted spoon and put them in a bowl. (Leave the chorizo grease in there if you want to make the calamari.)

Turn on the grill and let it heat up. When the dough has risen, roll it out to whatever thinness you want (I think thinner is better, especially for the grill.) Rub a little olive oil on one side of the dough and put the dough on the grill, oil side down. Let it cook until the dough just holds its shape, about 1-2 minutes. Take the dough off of the grill and and dress the grilled side. (It should have some nice grill marks.) Spread the sauce over the dough, then add the mozzarella, then the chorizo. Before you put it back on the grill, sprinkle it with a little Pecorino Romano. Put it back on the grill and close the lid. This will melt the cheese while the bottom of the crust firms up. This can take from 3-7 minutes, depending on the size of the pizza and heat of the grill etc. You just want your cheese melted--the dough will cook quickly.

Take it off the grill and let it sit for a minute, then slice it up!

Meat Lover's Paradise

I've mentioned Faicco's before, but I don't believe I've given it my proper and usual laud. This "Italian Specialty Store" is right down the street from me and I'm in there about 5 times a week. It's not very big, but you can find almost anything you need for great, Italian fare. When you walk in, on your left is a wall lined with shelves of Strozzapretti and orecchiette and bucatini next to Rao's sauces and jarred peppers and olives and imported flours and olive oils. I always go in and get the Italian 00 flour--this makes homemade pasta light and fluffy and amazing, and works wonders on pizza dough.

To your immediate right is a counter filled with pre-made foods like chicken francaise and veal Parmesan. Following that is an enormous counter filled with all sorts of meats and sausages. Here you can find steak, osso bucco, braciole, thick sliced bacon, ground veal, ground beef, chicken, pork chops, veal scallopini... They also have several types of sausages including spicy Italian, sweet Italian, sweet Italian with fennel, parsley and cheese, and chicken sausage.

Straight ahead is the deli counter. Here you can get sandwiches (I recommend the Italian special, but split it with someone because it's enormous) and a large range of cured meats. I am particularly fond of the prosciutto di parma, the hot sopressata, and the hot capricolo (all of which are present in the Italian special sandwich). Their fresh mozzarella is delicious, especially lightly breaded, sauteed, and served with their marinara sauce.

If you're having people over for dinner and want great hors d'oeuvres that are easy and cheap, go to the back counter and ask for 5 slices of a couple kinds of meat--which will only cost you around $5--and just neatly spread them onto a plate.

Faicco's is at 260 Bleecker street, at Cornelia and next to Murray's cheese. They close at 6, so you've got to stock up on the weekends or, if you live nearby, run in before you head to work.