Marinated mozzarella experiment
I'd never tried this before and didn't bother with a recipe (duh) but it turned out quite well.
In a frying pan I put
A good layer of extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 dried tomatoes, sliced into small pieces
Crushed red pepper, to taste
1 tsp chopped garlic
A few shakes of Penzey's Italian Herb mix
I warmed it on the lowest heat possible for about an hour, eventually boiling off much of the water from the garlic. While heating the oil I cut 8oz of mozzarella into small bits, then picked ~12 large leaves of basil and cut them into thin strips. I turned the heat up a couple of notches, added the basil and stirred for just 2 minutes, then cut off the heat. I put the oil and cheese in a bowl, and immediately stuck it in the fridge for a day or so.
The next day we made some Healthy Harvest whole wheat blend egg noodles and topped them with the mozzarella, most of the olive oil, a little fresh chopped garlic, salt and sliced black olives. I would definitely have added tomatoes, but the grape tomatoes had gotten old and the roma tomatoes were so lacking in flavor as to be unworthy of inclusion.
The result was quite good, with a complex and nicely balanced mix of flavors. As usual though I have tweaks for next time:
Let the oil sit on the stove and cool slowly to room temperature. I think a longer time at elevated temperature would enhance the flavor, and the cheese got kinda melty from the hot oil.
Use a softer, more porous cheese, cut it a bit smaller and let it marinate longer.
Use maybe 25% more basil and a touch more garlic.
Instead of the Italian herb mix use freshly chopped oregano and maybe a little parsely.
I think it might be tasty to make the marinade a bit sweeter, maybe with sweeter basil.
In a frying pan I put
A good layer of extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 dried tomatoes, sliced into small pieces
Crushed red pepper, to taste
1 tsp chopped garlic
A few shakes of Penzey's Italian Herb mix
I warmed it on the lowest heat possible for about an hour, eventually boiling off much of the water from the garlic. While heating the oil I cut 8oz of mozzarella into small bits, then picked ~12 large leaves of basil and cut them into thin strips. I turned the heat up a couple of notches, added the basil and stirred for just 2 minutes, then cut off the heat. I put the oil and cheese in a bowl, and immediately stuck it in the fridge for a day or so.
The next day we made some Healthy Harvest whole wheat blend egg noodles and topped them with the mozzarella, most of the olive oil, a little fresh chopped garlic, salt and sliced black olives. I would definitely have added tomatoes, but the grape tomatoes had gotten old and the roma tomatoes were so lacking in flavor as to be unworthy of inclusion.
The result was quite good, with a complex and nicely balanced mix of flavors. As usual though I have tweaks for next time:
Let the oil sit on the stove and cool slowly to room temperature. I think a longer time at elevated temperature would enhance the flavor, and the cheese got kinda melty from the hot oil.
Use a softer, more porous cheese, cut it a bit smaller and let it marinate longer.
Use maybe 25% more basil and a touch more garlic.
Instead of the Italian herb mix use freshly chopped oregano and maybe a little parsely.
I think it might be tasty to make the marinade a bit sweeter, maybe with sweeter basil.