Salami Mozzarella Quesadilla

Prep time: 5 to 8 minutes
Makes 4 quesadillas

This simple-to-make snack, lunch or dinner is fast and fun. I've always enjoyed a plain cheese quesadilla, but when I created my own version with Genoa Salami and Mozzarella, it became exquisite!

Top these Italian-Mexican quesadillas with my Salsa and … Whatever recipe. It’ll be amore or amor at first bite!

Ingredients:
Four 10-inch flour tortillas
16 slices Genoa Salami, thinly sliced
8 ounces Mozzarella cheese, shredded

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, warm up two tortillas at a time on medium-high heat by flipping them over at 1 to 2-minute intervals.

Set burner on low heat setting. Working quickly, lay 4 slices salami on the half side of each tortilla. Top the salami with ¼ of the shredded mozzarella and fold each tortilla in half. Flip the quesadillas over immediately (to avoid charring the underside).

With a spatula, gently press top of each quesadilla to flatten slightly. Flip once or twice or until cheese has melted and starts bubbling along quesadilla edges.

Serve hot with Salsa and … Whatever (published on this blog on June 28, 2010).

Wine pairing suggestion: chilled Pinot Grigio (white) or Cabernet Sauvignon (red).

Text & Photograph © 2011 Nancy Real

Mozzarella di Bufala Starters

Prep time: 15 to 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Mozzarella di bufala is made with fresh buffalo milk. This delicacy is a specialty of Campania, Italy, where the production of dairy products is rooted in the region's ancient Greco-Roman past. In 1570, the great connnoisseur of regional Italian cookery, Bartolomeo Scappi, mentioned "mozzarella di bufala" for the first time in his culinary treatise, Opera. The word "mozzarella" derives from the verb "mozzare", a hand gesture which divides an elongated piece of "pasta filata" or freshly pulled cheese into single "mozzarelle" (Italian, for mozzarellas).

Notice the photo with the mozzarella and layout of ingredients - these starters are intended to be fun to make, pleasing to the eye and exquisite. The final photo is what you get ... and what you eat!

Ingredients:
One 8-ounce or two 4-ounce fresh buffalo mozzarellas (packaged in water)
4 wooden skewers, set aside until ready to use
8 slices olive bread
8 fresh basil leaves
1 vine-ripened tomato, cut into 4 slices
1 Heirloom tomato (reddish-yellow in color), cut into 4 slices
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper, to taste
12 olives, for garnish

If using one 8-ounce mozzarella, cut it into 4 slices and cut each slice in half to yield a total of 8 pieces.
If using two 4-ounce mozzarellas, cut each one into 4 slices (you will have a total of 8 pieces). Set aside.

Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter or a glass, cut each slice of bread to yield a total of 8 round bread slices. Save the leftover bread pieces in a sealed food storage bag for another use (such as enjoying them on a future binge).

For each serving, use 2 bread rounds, 2 basil leaves, 2 mozzarella slices, 1 vine-ripened tomato slice, 1 Heirloom tomato slice and assemble as follows:

Push a skewer through the center of one bread round, positioning the bread within a 1/2-inch of the skewer's tip. Follow with a basil leaf and then alternate the mozzarella and tomato slices. While assembling, drizzle oil and sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the mozzarella slices.

End with a basil leaf and a bread round.

With shears, trim the remaining skewer, leaving 1/2-inch of the skewer tip outside the bread round.

Repeat above assembly three more times. Arrange on a platter, garnish with olives and serve immediately.

Buon Appetito!

Wine suggestion: chilled Greco di Tufo - this is one of my favorite whites from the region of Campania, Italy.

Note: Do not prepare this recipe ahead of time, as the mozzarella will become watery and change its texture.

Text and Photographs © Nancy Real 2010

Kiwi, Mozzarella & Papaya Skewers

Prep time: 25 to 30 minutes
Yield: 4 to 6 skewers

Lookin' to make a splash with a fresh and colorful appetizer this summer? Here's a cool, mouth-watering recipe. These cute looking kiwi, mozzarella and papaya starters appeal to the eye as well as to the palate. And when this bright platter makes its appearance, you'll notice your guests' eyes pop out of their sockets and hear them utter the word, "Wowwwwwww!"

Ingredients:
1 Hawaiian papaya
1 bunch watercress, rinsed and spun dry in a salad spinner
5 kiwis, peeled
1 pint cherry tomatoes (2 cups)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella balls (one-inch mozzarella balls packaged in water)
Six 12-inch wooden skewers
Melon ball scooper
Salt and pepper, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Cut papaya in half and remove seeds with a spoon; set aside.

Remove largest and most perfect leaves from watercress stem; set leaves aside and discard stems.

Using a melon ball scooper, carve out one-inch balls from the flesh of both papaya and kiwis, setting them aside on a plate as you go along.

Take 1 skewer and put it through the center of a watercress leaf, making sure the leaf is pushed to the opposite end of the skewer. Add a mozzarella ball, a watercress leaf, a papaya ball, a watercress leaf, a tomato, a watercress leaf and a kiwi. Repeat pattern and continue assembling remaining skewers.

When all skewers are assembled, place them on a glass or porcelain serving platter. Add a dash of salt and pepper to the skewers, followed by a drizzle of the olive oil and serve immediately.

Alternatively, prepare up to 4 hours ahead, cover with plastic and refrigerate until ready to serve.

The Kiwi, Mozzarella & Papaya skewers will keep, refrigerated, up to two days (by the next day, the kiwi may not be as firm but it will still be edible).

Text and Photographs © Nancy Real 2010