Grilled marinated mozzarella with crunchy bread, smoked bacon & a black olive & lemon dressing
This is an absolutely genius combination. It's not very often that mozzarella gets cooked in a credible way but this is one time it does. I love the whole idea of putting the bread, mozzarella and smoky bacon together because when cooked they complement each other so well – the bread goes really crisp and soaks up all the lovely juices, the milky mozzarella starts to melt and go really gooey, and served with a fresh herb salad it's lovely. Great for a starter or a snack, and I've even made little mini ones as canapés (dare I say that word?!).
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 13 of 17 ingredients — the other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 13 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Mozzarella Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 85 |
| Bacon | 1 slice cooked (8g) | 43 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Rosemary | 1 tsp dried (1.2g) | 4 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Olive | 1 large (4g) | 4 |
| Chive | 1 tbsp (3g) | 1 |
| Basil | 5 leaves fresh (2.5g) | 1 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Smoke | not in our table | 0 |
| Buffalo | not in our table | 0 |
| Chervil | not in our table | 0 |
| Peppermint | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf ciabatta bread
- 4 rashers higher-welfare thinly sliced dry-cured smoke bacon, or pancetta
- zest of 2 lemons
- 2 large buffalo mozzarella cheeses
- 8 sticks fresh rosemary
- 1 clove garlic
- extra virgin olive oil
- 3 handfuls mixed fresh herbs (chives, chervil, mint, basil, parsley)
- 1 good handful black olives, stones removed
- 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 5 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper