5 Dreamy Dishes As Gorgeous As They Are Delicious From The Chicest Cookbook Of The Year

HANDS ON TIME
15 minutes

HANDS OFF TIME
20-30 minutes resting

INGREDIENTS (FOR 6-8)
12 black olives, pitted
6–8 anchovies
25g (scant ¼ cup) pine nuts
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1–2 celery sticks
6 mozzarella cheeses, ideally buffalo

A lighter, slightly less decadent version of the burrata recipe on the previous page. You can pair mozzarella successfully with most things, though I find that celery, with its distinctive mineral flavour, works particularly well with the salty black olives here, while the pine nuts add an unexpectedly creamy note.

The success of this dish depends upon the cheese. Buffalo mozzarella, if you can get your hands on it, is my favourite; it’s lighter and a little tangier than mozzarella made from cow’s milk.

One of the joys of this dish is that the mozzarella can be sliced a little in advance and left on its serving dish for a couple of hours, though of course the longer it sits, the less fresh it will taste.

Finely chop the olives, anchovies and pine nuts together. Spoon them into a bowl, pour over the olive oil, give everything a good stir and set aside. Thickly slice the celery.

Slice the mozzarella thickly, roughly 1cm thick, and arrange on a serving dish. Sprinkle the chopped celery over the cheese, then spoon over the olive mixture with all of its flavoured oil. Set aside – ideally in the fridge, or if fridge space is at a premium, somewhere cool – for 20–30 minutes before serving, so the cheese becomes imbued with the flavour of the oil.

Bring the cheese to room temperature before serving.

[Reprinted from A Table for Friends by arrangement with Bloomsbury Publishing. Copyright © 2020, Skye McAlpine]