Fried Sage Leaves with Mozzarella

Ever since I learned about fried sage leaves they have become my favorite garnish for many dishes. Each year I cannot wait until fall to make the familiar and try some new dishes with fried sage leaves. And although sage can be harvested almost the whole year and can sustain not too harsh winters, nothing tastes better than fall dishes finished with sage leaves. I like particularly all pumpkin family vegetables to be enriched with the sage aroma.

Today's recipe comes from the Italian cuisine. It is a snack featuring sage as a main ingredient. It reminds me a little bit of another Italian speciality--fried zucchini blossoms--that are almost nothing than just a snack but at the same time taste so good and sophisticated that makes them more remarkable than just a snack deserves to be.

The other week I harvested a bunch of the sage leaves and made my first batch of fried sage with mozzarella. It was a delicious snack, which even my picky son complimented. Sage leaves were very crispy, mozzarella almost running, and everything was coated in a delicate, fried batter.

If you are a lover of fried zucchini blossoms, here is another dish to fall in love with. Serve it as aromatic fall party snack with a glass of wine.

Fried Sage Leaves with Mozzarella

Ingredients:
About 30 large sage leaves,
7 oz (usually 2 balls) of mozzarella, preferably, mozzarella bufala,
2 eggs,
4 tbsp all purpose flour,
1/8 tsp dried yeasts,
1/4 cup dry white wine,
2 cups olive oil for frying.

Preparation:
1. To make a batter separate eggs. Place yolks in a medium bowl and whites in the other. Add flour, yeasts, salt, and white wine to yolks and beat together until smooth. Set aside for about half an hour.
2. Cut mozzarella into slices than cut into halves (to make about 15 pieces).
3. Place each piece of mozzarella on one sage leave and cover with another. You can use wooden toothpicks to fasten mozzarella and leaves together.

4. Beat the whites and fold in into yolk mixture.
5. In a small heavy duty pot heat the oil until very hot. Dip sage leaves with mozzarella in the batter and place in a bubbling oil. Fry on each side until dark gold.

6. Dry on a paper towel, season with sea salt, and serve warm.

Tomatoes with Burrata--In Tomato Season

There is nothing special in this post beyond my provocative saying "If you like mozzarella and never tried burrata, try it, and I am sure you will fall for it as well."

For many years one of my favorite summer dishes, when truly good sweet tomatoes are available, was mozzarella with tomatoes and basil. I could have eaten it every single day. Until the day I discovered burrata--an even more guilty pleasure.

Burrata means buttered. And it is. On the outside it looks like mozzarella but inside is soft, creamy, buttery. Ever since I tried burrata ,I became addicted to its taste but even more the texture. Now I buy mozzarella only if burrata is not available. Although fresh mozzarella is nowadays quite popular in the US, burrata not so much yet. Whenever I see its much smaller supply at Whole Foods or TJ I buy a couple of boxes.

Like in many so simple dishes the secret lies in the quality of the ingredients--fresh cheese, extra virgin olive oil, and most of all in the tasty, sweet tomatoes, topped with fresh aromatic basil leaves.

Last Friday, I made a trip to my local farmers market in search of perfect tomatoes for my burrata. I looked for tomatoes like those we have in Poland and Italy--fleshy and sweet, grown under the local sun. I bought two types: red and orange. Red, heirloom tomatoes were sweet and fleshy. But the orange ones, advertised as low on acid, tasted as perfect as if they grew in Poland, during a particularly hot summer, or if they ripened under the Tuscan sun. I used both of them, layering with burrata and drizzling with oil. It was a truly summery feast...

Tomatoes with Burrata

Ingredients:
2 tasty tomatoes,

1 ball of burrata,

See burrata on the left and mozzarella on the right:

extra virgin olive oil,
fresh basil leaves,
freshly ground pepper,
coarse sea salt.

Just arrange the slices of burrata and tomatoes, drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with spices and basil and enjoy

Mozzarella and Tomato Salad--World's Best Idea?

"Pots and Frills" have been having visitors from all over the world, but still not that many from Italy. Let me therefore smuggle in this basic Italian recipe: mozzarella and tomato salad (aka "Caprese" or "Mozzarella Pomodoro").

I thought that my roasted potatoes were already a stretch and a cliché, but I have just got a comment about them: "Finally I got it right and perfect", so for those who have never tried mixing tomatoes and mozzarella, here is another very basic dish.

All you need is:
ripe tomatoes or cherry tomatoes,
fresh basil,
extra virgin olive oil,
fresh mozzarella, possibly in water,
salt and pepper.

Cut the ingrendients, arrange on the plate, drizzle with olive oil, decorate with basil leaves, salt and pepper, and enjoy.

And pictures speak for themselves. Tomatoes with mozzarella can be served before dinner or instead of a dinner, or at any time in the summer months. Simple dishes are often the best.