I rarely offer a starter, preferring to have a few bits and pieces on the table to help myself. One of those bits and pieces would be a salad of some sort, maybe mozzarella or burrata cooked thoughtfully, the kind of dish that could appear as both a starter or a snack. A summer lunch staple needs to be refreshing, like this mozzarella with a crisp dressing of pickled cherries, cucumber, gherkins and preserved green peppers. Cherries are best made a day or two in advance - they will keep in jars in the fridge for several weeks.
Serves 2.
For pickled cherries
Red wine vinegar 150 ml
Soft brown sugar 75 grams
Yellow mustard seeds 1 pc
Juniper Berries 10
½ teaspoon sea salt
Cherries 250g, halved and pitted
For the salad
Cucumber 250 grams
Gherkins or cornichons 90 grams
Bottled green chilies 1 tsp
12 basil leaves
Parsley 2 tablespoons, chopped
Olive oil 3 tbsp
2 balls of mozzarella or burrata.
Pickled cherries 4 tbsp
To pickle the cherries, combine the red wine vinegar and soft brown sugar in a medium-sized stainless steel or enameled pan and bring to a boil. Add mustard seeds, juniper berries and sea salt. When the sugar dissolves, add the cherry halves to the hot vinegar and sugar. Transfer fruit and wine to sterile jars and seal.
To make the salad, peel and cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise and remove the wet, seed layer. Cut the meat into pencil-thin slices and place in a bowl. Cut the gherkins or cornichons in half lengthwise then add them to the cucumber. Scatter over the green peppercorns in the bottle.
Chop the basil leaves and add to the salad along with the chopped parsley. Add olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the cherry marinade, then stir in 4 tablespoons of the cherries.
Place a ball of mozzarella or burrata on each plate or shallow dish, spoon the cucumber salad and cherries around the cheese and serve.
