These are super delicious, small crostini (or bruschetta if you like) with fried baguette slices and homemade stracciatella. This is topped with cherry tomatoes that are oven-baked with garlic and olive oil.

Lovely aperitivo!

Stracciatella is the name of the delicious, soft cheese curds that you find inside a Burrata. Burrata is often called "the Queen of Italian cheese," and both burrata and stracciatella originally come from the Puglia region in southern Italy. See many recipes with burrata HERE.

Stracciatella is simply fresh mozzarella torn into pieces and mixed with cream, and can therefore easily be made at home. You can use fresh cow's milk-based mozzarella, but preferably mozzarella made from buffalo milk (mozzarella di bufala) to make Stracciatella di bufala. A small sprinkle of flaky salt (possibly also some ground pepper) and a few drops of good olive oil, and you have the genuine Italian atmosphere in your home.

Stracciatella can be placed in dollops on top of pizzas and pasta dishes in the same way that burrata is placed on pizzas and pasta dishes (homemade stracciatella is therefore sometimes called "cheat-burrata" 😊). Put out a bowl of stracciatella and freshly baked focaccia, and you have a delicious Italian appetizer. You can also prepare small toast pieces with stracciatella that can be served as finger food (see Crostini with stracciatella and oven-baked tomatoes).

Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Niao Mamuang in Thai) is Thailand's most famous dessert!

The dessert consists of steamed, sticky rice (khao niao or khao niew in Thai) with a sweet coconut flavor, juicy and ripe mango (mamuang in Thai), which is topped with a thick and delicious coconut milk sauce.

Delicious and exotic dessert that has become incredibly popular in the last couple of years.

Glass noodle salad (Yum Woon Sen in Thai, where "yum" means salad/mix and "woon sen" means glass noodles) is a super popular dish in Thailand.

Glass noodles are thin, transparent noodles made from starch from mung beans. The classic version of Yum Woon Sen is usually made with cooked minced pork and shrimp, but here I have used beautiful, Norwegian prawns. It is also possible to make a glass noodle salad with marinated, fried chicken or beef strips.

This version of glass noodle salad with prawns is light and summery. In addition to glass noodles and prawns, cucumber, spring onions, shallots, celery, radishes, fresh coriander, and mint are used – and chopped peanuts for crunch. The Thai dressing with fish sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, lime, and chili adds sour, sweet, salty, and spicy flavors that give the salad a wonderful taste!

Sweet and fresh summer salad that pairs perfectly with grilled food!

Here, sweet pieces of mango and melon are combined with soft lamb's lettuce, fresh basil, and mild mozzarella. Chopped pistachios add flavor and crunch.

Warm and soft yeast pastry with blueberries, homemade vanilla cream, and crispy crumble topping!

You should try this! 😋😋😋

Here comes an upgraded luxury version of the classic Italian Caprese salad, see previously published Insalata Caprese (Tomato and Mozzarella Salad).

A classic Caprese is made with tomato slices, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves, topped with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We're talking simple, clean, and wonderful flavors.

In this version, the great flavors are enhanced! Here, the tomato slices are replaced with extra sweet piccolo tomatoes and Yoom tomatoes with the lovely dark exterior, in addition to some aromatic pieces of sun-dried tomatoes. Fresh mozzarella is used in combination with burrata, which has the soft, creamy center (stracciatella). In addition to basil leaves, homemade pesto is used as well. The whole thing is topped with toasted pine nuts and grated parmesan.

Buonissimo! 😍

This is a very simple and summery tomato salad!

I got hold of some incredibly beautiful tomatoes, so-called "heirloom tomatoes" (also called "heritage tomatoes" in Norwegian), which I just sliced and laid out on a platter along with slices of fresh mozzarella.

For dressing, I used Italian Salsa verde, a classic Italian herb sauce with lots of flavor!

This tomato salad is wonderful as a side dish to grilled food!

Salsa verde means "green sauce" in Italian, and is a flavorful, green herb sauce. In addition to lots of parsley and preferably fresh basil, the sauce is made with garlic, mustard, white wine vinegar, capers, possibly anchovies, and good olive oil. The sauce is blended in a food processor and served cold.

Visually, Salsa verde can resemble Pesto alla genovese, which is also green, but the flavors are completely different. Classic pesto is based on basil and contains parmesan and nuts, which are not found in Salsa verde, while Salsa verde is based on parsley and has a somewhat salty and tangy umami flavor from capers, mustard, and anchovies.

Throughout Italy, you can find slightly different variations of salsa verde. Salsa verde toscana from the region of Tuscany often contains a hard-boiled egg that is mashed into the sauce, while the sauce is made with both hard-boiled egg yolk and a bit of bread in Piedmont (Salsa verde piemontese or Bagnetto verde).

Salsa verde also means "green sauce" in Spanish, and the Italian sauce you have a recipe for here should not be confused with Mexican Salsa verde. Mexican Salsa verde is much spicier and made with green tomatillos (which look like small green tomatoes), fresh cilantro, parsley, onion, garlic, lime, and jalapeños (green chili).

Check out the recipe for Chimichurri, which is a popular herb sauce from Argentina, made with fresh oregano, flat-leaf parsley, garlic, chili, red wine vinegar, and olive oil.

Italian Salsa verde is made without chili and is mild, but still full of flavor! Especially delightful as a side for grilled meat, chicken, fish, and boiled eggs. Salsa verde is also served with roasted potatoes, vegetables, and as a dressing on salads. For example, see Tomato salad with mozzarella and salsa verde.

Hello everyone!

Here's a little greeting from Italy, where I'm spending my summer vacation this year. 😊

A delightful creation that has gone viral on social media is "Italian sushi"! These are tempting rolls made from Italian prosciutto, burrata (or mozzarella), arugula, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and fresh basil. The rolls are topped with sweet balsamic glaze (crema di balsamico).

In appearance, the rolls might resemble Japanese Maki a bit, but in terms of taste, this is of course something entirely different from sushi. No matter what one might think of the name, these are some real treats that are fun to serve! 😍

Italian sushi is perfect to serve as an appetizer before pasta or to present as part of a tapas board or buffet.