Six Types of (Birthday) Mozzarella

Wednesday is my 36^th birthday. There, I said it. 36. A woman’s age is supposed to be a secret, but why? We should celebrate what we’ve done and what we have yet to experience.

I’ve always been quite taken by the number six. It started when I was six and thought it was a pretty cool age.

Six has treated me well – it has appeared in friends’ phone numbers, addresses, and other places where numbers show up. Since I’m pretty vague about my superstition, I also enjoy 2 (since 2x3 is 6, of course) and 3 (for similar reasons.)

By that very odd and illogical logic, this should be a great year.

And I look forward to a year with at least six types of mozzarella: fresh, smoked, braided, in tiny ciliegine balls, di bufala and burrata.

Mozzarella everywhere! A meal at 2Amy's Pizzeria 

(2 years ago)

If you're curious, last year I listed some of my (not-always-mozzarella) favorite foods.

Lioni Latticini’s Bocconcini Wrapped with Proscuitto

Sometimes it seems disappointing that the hunt for most Italian products is over, now that most things are not only imported, but also made by American manufacturers.

On the other hand, how lovely!

My mother recently bought fresh mozzarella from Lioni Latticini’s and followed their online recipe for Bocconcini Wrapped with Proscuitto. It is a little risky to cook mozzarella, for both the final product and the person who has to clean the pan, but on a low enough heat, these little mozzarella balls warmed up nicely and the prosciutto did, too. With some fresh sage and olive oil, it is a quick and delicious appetizer. The salt in the prosciutto is a lovely addition to the unsalted mozzarella.

Italian Grilled Cheese Panino

Forget American cheese melted between two slices of white bread. My mother makes the best grilled cheese sandwich.

First, she grills the slices of Italian bread in olive oil right on the stovetop in a cast iron pan. Once the bread is toasted on one side, she turns one slice over, piles on the toppings (mozzarella, prosciutto, and anything else she has on hand, like tomatoes, lettuce and salami), covers it with the other half and grills the whole panino. She usually turns it over at least once. With a fork and spatula, you can (mostly) keep the insides from falling out. The cheese melts into the bread, the crust is crunchy from the olive oil and the salty meats nicely compliment the fresh mozzarella. It is delicious!

My mom recently revealed to me that when I was growing up, she would use butter instead of olive oil. With that in mind, this is a low-fat version, right? If you are looking to make this dish healthy, I wouldn’t recommend low-fat mozzarella since it won’t melt quite right. In fact, I’m not sure that there should be a (really) low-fat version. I would even recommend adding just a pinch of salt to the olive oil to help bring out the flavor in the bread.