Oven Roasted Bocconcini w/ Speck



File this under WOWIE DELICIOUS!

At a recent visit to Peasant, a cool little Italian rustic restaurant in Nolita, I had this amazing bocconcini w/ speck from their beautiful wood fired oven.

No, Henry did not build me a wood fire oven in my backyard (hey, why not?), but I recreated this amazing appetizer in the broiler and it came out just perfect.

Bocconcini are large fresh mozzarella balls packed in water (not the little cherry sized ones, but baseball sized). You can use Bufala mozzarella or Fiore di Latte, just not the shrink wrapped supermarket stuff that resembles wax.

Once you melt this creamy wonderful cheese, the milky solids ooze out to create a special treat.

Speck is a smoked prosciutto that tastes like bacon. Not easy to find, so feel free to substitute it with Prosciutto di Parma, if you can't find it.

Serve with warm, crusty bread swiped with olive paste and you will be a happy camper.



Oven Roasted Bocconcini w/ Speck:

Crusty Italian bread, toasted
olive paste or pesto
3 balls of bocconcini (mozzarella balls packed in water), drained and patted dry
6 slices of speck (smoked prosciutto)
olive oil
sea salt & pepper
fresh oregano leaves

Pour some olive oil in the bottom of a small oval casserole dish.



Wrap the 3 mozzarella balls w/ 2 pieces of ham each, and lay in the dish. Sprinkle with sea salt & pepper and drizzle with some more olive oil.



Place under the broiler in a gas oven for about 8 minutes.....keep an eye so it doesn't burn. The cheese and ham should be crusty and golden.

Garnish w/ fresh oregano leaves.

Bring the casserole to the table and have everyone spoon some of the gooey cheese and speck and spread on toasts.



Oh my!

Comments

Stacey Snacks said…
You can't put Pyrex glass under the broiler or on the stovetop, however, my French porcelain casseroles are meant for that! They come out crusty and beautiful, never a crack!
Anonymous said…
Hmmm, your casserole dish came out intact. Always scared to do this, after listening to my mom's horror story of a pyrex dish cracking under the broiler.
Ciao Chow Linda said…
Ow wow, this looks so decadently delicious. I'm not a speck fan (smoky meats don't do it for me) but I will make this with prosciutto.
Kaitlin said…
Finally I can leave a comment on your blog!
This looks totally delicious and I love that place in nyc Peasant, this looks almost just like it! Yum!
Linda said…
So glad blogger is back up - just wanted to let you know I ate this for dinner last night with a salad. perfect.
This smeared on crusty bread...heaven, and it's no fuss to make, yumm!
Jen_from_NJ said…
Oh my I must try this one! Looks so good!
lisafaley said…
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
YUM!!
Cassandra said…
This looks delish!!! Pinning this ASAP!