Mr. S and I LOVE cheese and you know you’re a cheese lover when your friend gives you a book on it! Last October I posted about our local Italian cheesemaker, Ciro. His products can be found at two of our local farmers’ markets and other food establishments.  His passion for cheese making is infectious and we’ve eaten every kind he sells!  Ciro’s latest variety is stracciatella (pronounced strahtch-ah- TELL-ah). Stracciatella is the creamy filling of burrata cheese.  It is filled with thick, fresh cream and tiny shreds of stretched curd that spills out when you cut into the cheese. This stretched curd is soft, pillowy and incredibly versatile.  Oh, and I did mention unbelievably delicious?

Serve with fresh bread and extra-virgin olive oil and add grilled figs, or in a salad, as a pizza topping or in a pasta dish.  However you serve it, make sure stracciatella is at room temperature.  Take it out of the fridge half an hour before serving to fully appreciate the flavors.

a fresh loaf of bread
stracciatella
extra-virgin olive oil (break out the good stuff!)
roasted garlic, sliced
roasted tomatoes

Toast slices of bread and drizzle olive oil over.  Add sliced garlic, tomatoes and top with stracciatella.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

The Culinary Chase’s Note:  Try stracciatella with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and top with toasted breadcrumbs.  It’s ridiculously scrumptious.  Enjoy!