These were fun for Christmas Eve. They kind of looked like little pine trees. They tasted quite good too and were easy to make. Immerse the cheese cubes in the marinade as deeply as possible to get them to soak up the flavor. I stored them a couple of days because I wanted them to have lots of flavor. The rosemary sprigs darkened during storage in the frig, though. I would make them again, but would attempt to get them to absorb the marinade more somehow–maybe make a larger quantity of marinade. Another recipe which used marinade with mozzarella cheese turned out a little better, but it occurred to me that that recipe used fresh mozzarella cheese, and it seemed to soak up the marinade a little better. Maybe that would improve these–using fresh mozzarella cheese. Will try next time.
Ingredients
- 3 (8-oz.) blocks mozzarella cheese
- 1 (8.5-oz.) jar sun-dried tomatoes, drained and halved
- 1/2 cup olive oil $
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- Garnish: flat-leaf parsley sprigs or fresh rosemary stems
Preparation
- Cut blocks of cheese into 1-inch cubes. Arrange cheese cubes and tomato halves in an 8-inch square baking dish.
- Whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, chopped parsley, and next 6 ingredients; pour evenly over cheese cubes. Cover and chill at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Transfer mixture to a serving plate. Garnish with fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs, or spear tomato halves and cheese cubes with short rosemary stems, if desired. Drizzle with marinade, if desired.
