The Cookbook » Salad

Mozzarella Veal with Roast Tomato Salad

Rebecca — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:50:39 +0000

Tender veal steak rolls stuffed with melting mozzarella cheese, wrapped in prosciutto, served on a bed of rocket, garnished with Italian parsley and shaved parmesan, surrounded by a cluster of baked cherry tomatoes.

Mozzarella Veal wrapped in Prosciutto served with Roast Tomato Salad

This meal is relatively simple to prepare. The three principle elements are (1) the salad base, (2) baked cherry tomatoes, and lastly (3) the stuffed veal rolls. Preparing the rolls can be done well in advance and this is where most of the time is – so it’s an excellent recipe for those occasions when you want to serve a meal that is visually exciting and tasty, but at the same time you want to keep your time in the kitchen down to a minimum. Preparing the veal for a couple of people takes about 30 min. and can be set aside in a refrigerator the day before. The remaining elements are trivial – baking the tomatoes requires practically no preparation, and the salad is about as simple as you can get – all up 5-10 min. kitchen duty and a total elapsed time of about 20-30 min. between start to delivery on the table.

Ingredients (2 serves)

The Salad
- 50g rocket leaves
- a handful of Italian parsley
- a handful of fresh basil leaves
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 50g parmesan cheese (shaved)
- vinaigrette or salad dressing
Mozzarella Veal
- 250g veal schnitzel steaks (4)
- 6-8 slices of prosciutto
- 100g mozzarella cheese (6-8 slices)
- 50g butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- a sprinkling of sage
- 4 fresh basil leaves

Preparing the stuffed veal rolls.

Method

tenderize the veal
season with salt and pepper
place slices of mozzarella cheese at one end (see above illustration)
sprinkle a little sage over the mozarella
place a fresh basil leaf on top
fold the other end of the veal over on top of the other
roll the folded veal into a cylinder and wrap with one or two slices of prosciutto
set aside and repeat the process for each veal streak
preheat oven to 180 degrees, place tomatoes into a baking dish lined with baking paper
bake tomatoes in oven for 20-25 min.
prepare salad by mixing the rocket and basil dressed with the vinaigrette
place salad in the center of the plates in preparation
heat oil and butter in a hot frying pan, add the veal rolls and cook for 4-6 minutes turning frequently, remove and arrange two rolls per plate over the salad
serve roasted tomatoes around the salad and veal rolls
garnish with sprigs of Italian parsley and shaved parmesan

Putting it all together.

Warm Goat’s Cheese SaladSalade de Chèvre Chaud

Zino — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:58:03 +0000

Paris, middle of winter, it’s cold, the air is dry, sun sulking on the horizon, a little table in the corner of the cafe where a struggling beam of sunshine lights the edge of the wineglass filled with the house Cote de Rhone. Looking up, the waiter arrives, a Salade de Chèvre Chaud in hand, places it on the table, slips the ticket under the paper table cover, wishes ‘bon appetit’, turns, and disappears.

Aroma takes center stage, eyes to the plate, taste-buds kick in, …

Salade de Chèvre Chaud, ready to enjoy.

This is a simple and tasty salad. A bed of cos lettuce dressed with your favorite salad dressing, topped with little rounds of toast topped with warm goat’s cheese.

Ingredients (1 serves)

10-12 cos lettuce leaves from the heart of the lettuce
a few walnuts
4 small rounds of bread (preferably a slices of a French Baguette if the real thing is available)
Goat’s cheese (the traditional style comes in the form of a roll about 120mm long and 35mm round)
salad dressing of your choice

A selection of cos lettuce leaves.

Method

Cut cos lettuce in pieces about 30-40mm wide, mix with walnuts and dressing, and place in serving bowl
Gently toast the bread rounds until they just start to brown ever so slightly.
Cut 4 slices of the goat’s cheese about 10-15 mm thick (if your goat’s cheese is not in the form of a roll, just spread it on to the bread to make an equivalent round cheese layer
Return the bread with cheese to the griller and gently grill until golden
Place rounds on top of the prepared cos lettuce

Warm Meatball Pesto Salad

Zino — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:57:00 +0000

This is one of those wonderful salads – fresh rocket, light and flavor filled meatballs, zucchini, squash, basil, parmesan cheese, dressed with a basil, parmesan and cashew dip.

There are a couple of interesting aspects to this dish – firstly, the meatballs are really light and a joy to the palette, and this is largely because of the addition of bacon and onion. The bacon adds more oil to cooking process and the onion adds more liquid withing the meatball itself. Then we have the salad – and just plain rocket can be a touch aggressive but the addition of a health level of basil combined with the parmesan cheese seems to bring everything together.

The ingredients detail a main-course scenario for 4 serves, but you could just as easily prepare this as an entre for 6 or 8. As to the selection of veal or lean-beef, I’ve done both and public opinion leans towards the veal – it just a little lighter – but the beef variation is really good too.

Ingredients (4 serves)

The Salad
- 2 small zucchinis, thickly sliced
- 500 grams of yellow squash – trimmed and quartered
- 1 large red capsicum, chopped
- 100 grams baby rocket leaves
- 1 cup of fresh basil leaves
- 150 gram tub of chunky basil with cashew and parmesan dip
- 1/4 cup of shaved parmesan cheese
The Meatballs
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 2 or 3 bacon rashers, finely chopped
- 500 grams of minced veal (or lean beef)
- 1/2 Cup of grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper (about half a teaspoon of each for me)

Method

heat the onion, garlic and bacon in a large frying pan over a high heat until the onion is soft then set aside in a bowl and allow to cool for about 10 min.
combine the onion, garlic and bacon mixture with the veal and grated parmesan, season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly
roll heaped teaspoons of the mixture into balls (about the size of a ping-pong ball)
brown meatballs over a medium heat using a couple of teaspoons of vegetable oil, turn occasionally (should be cooked though in about 8-12 min.) then remove the meatballs
after cleaning the frying pan, add another couple of teaspoons of oil and over a high heat cook the zucchini, squash and capsicum until just tender (about 5 or 6 min.)
combine the meatballs, vegetables, rocket and basil in a large serving bowl
garnish with the combined dip and water and the shaved parmesan cheese

Source: Derived from an article published in New Idea under the title ‘Little Italy’ (date of publication unknown).