Grilled Marinated Mozzarella with Crunchy Bread, Smoked Bacon and a Black Olive and Lemon Dressing
Serves 4
1 loaf of ciabatta bread
8 rashers of thinly sliced dry-cured smokey bacon, or pancetta
zest of 2 lemons
4 large buffalo mozzarella cheeses
8 sticks of fresh rosemary
1 clove of garlic
extra virgin olive oil
3 handfuls of mixed fresh herbs ( chives, chervil, mint, basil, parsley)
For the Dressing:
1 good handful of nice black olives, stones removed
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
5 tablespoons of lemon juice
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Remove the crusts from the ciabatta and tear up into rough 1 inch pieces. Throw into a bowl with the bacon and lemon zest. Divide each mozzarella into 8 similar sized pieces and add to the bowl. Keeping the leaf tips on the rosemary sticks, remove the lower leaves and smash them up in a pestle and mortar with the garlic. Stir in 8 tablespoons of olive oil, then pour the mixture over the bread, cheese and bacon. Marinate for anything between 15 minutes to an hour.
Thread the mozzarella and bread onto the rosemary sticks, weaving the bacon in and around. Line up the kebabs on a wire rack and place under the grill on a very high heat until the bread and bacon are golden and crisp and the mozzarella is nice and gooey. While this is grilling keep an eye on it as it can turn into a charred kebab very quickly. To make the dressing, chop up the olives and mix with the chilli, 5 tablespoons of lemon juice and the same of olive oil. Season to taste.
To Serve the Kebabs: Dress the herbs with half the olive oil dressing right at the last minute so the leaves stay nice and fresh, then use the other half of the dressing drizzled over the kebabs.