If you can buy fresh mozzarella “hot off the press,” before it’s been refrigerated, it will be easier to cut and fill. There are a lot of different fillings you can use in place of the prosciutto—olives, salami, fresh basil leaves, or pesto. Choose a thin-bladed knife with a blade long enough for you to see what the blade is doing as it cuts through the cheese.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 20 slices

　　One piece fresh mozzarella, about 1 pound

　　4 to 5 slices imported Italian prosciutto

　　

Step 1

Place the mozzarella on the work surface with one of the short ends facing you. Make a cut parallel to the work surface about 1/2 inch from the top of the cheese but don’t cut all the way through the cheese. Continue cutting, turning the cheese as you go to “unroll” the cheese and form a more or less even 1/2-inch sheet. If you have cut through the cheese, it can be patched.

　　

Step 2

Take a look at the sheet of cheese. You’ll notice that the two ends curl inward. Arrange the cheese on a large piece of plastic wrap with the two ends of the cheese that curl inward facing up—that will make the cheese easier to reform. Cover the top of the cheese with an even layer of prosciutto. Roll the cheese more or less into its original shape. Wrap the cheese snugly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until it is firm, at least 12 hours or up to 1 full day.

　　

Step 3

Unwrap the cheese and cut into thin slices with a thin-bladed knife.

　　From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright © 2001 by A La Carte Communications and Tutti a Tavola, LLC. Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.Buy the full book from Amazon.