Berry Salad with Leafy Greens and Balls of Fresh Mozzarella

May 9, 2024 by 3 Comments

fresh berry. salad

This fresh berry salad is bright and flavorful and pretty to look at because of all the vibrant colors. It’s a showstopper salad to serve at your next big party or get- together. It literally goes with so many things you might have as a main course.

You might think, “fruit in a salad?” I’m here to say, “Oh yes!”

berry salad ingredients

Beautiful leafy greens are the base for this salad along with juicy, ripe fresh blueberries and strawberries. Creamy avocado, crisp cucumbers and red onion along with balls of bocconcini, fresh mozzarella. For the crunch factor there’s candied pecans and pepitas.

berries and mozzarella balls

Present this salad in one of your biggest bowls or prettiest platters and it will be the talk of the party when you bring it out.

Always dress it right before serving with a homemade vinaigrette, don’t use that bottled stuff!

Enjoy

5.0 from 1 reviews
Berry Salad with Leafy Greens and Balls of Fresh Mozzarella
 
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A showstopper summer salad to serve for your summer parties. and get-togethers.
Author:
Ingredients
  • The ingredient amounts are not listed, just go with the flow according how big your salad will be.
  • ****************
  • leafy greens for the base
  • fresh strawberries, sliced into quarters
  • fresh blueberries
  • bocconcini balls or pearl size fresh mozzarella
  • red onion
  • avocado, diced
  • cucumbers, seeds scooped out and sliced
  • candied pecans and pepitas, please find these, it goes so well
Instructions
  1. Place the base of the leafy greens into a beautiful big bowl or platter.
  2. Then arrange all the rest of the ingredients all around.
  3. Spoon the balsamic vinaigrette all around at the last minute before serving, salt and pepper to taste.
  4. **************
  5. HOMEMADE BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE
  6. /2 cups good olive oil
  7. /2 cup of a quality balsamic vinegar
  8. small garlic clove, grated
  9. a dollop of dijon mustard
  10. salt and pepper
  11. Shake it all together in a jar and taste for your liking, you can add a little honey if you want but I find that a good quality rich balsamic vinegar has sweetness to it and there's no need for it.

 

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3 Comments Filed Under: Fruit, Party Foods, Salads, Side Dishes, Summer Tagged: , , , , ,

Whipped Ricotta Berry Tart

May 9, 2023 by 4 Comments

This is one of those desserts that is just so satisfying, its light, not to sweet, it uses fresh berries in season. There’s lemon and vanilla flavor in the background and it’s all surrounded by crunchy phyllo dough. It’s a whipped ricotta tart and you don’t even need to pull out your mixer!

berry ricotta tart

I love making tarts with ricotta and love using phyllo, which by the way is VERY forgiving. Of course this would be just as delicious if you make or buy your own pie crust and use that, but you’ll need to blind bake that as well. You can also mix up the berries you use, I did sliced strawberries, blackberries and blueberries.

I wouldn’t do too many strawberries they’re not as sturdy as the other ones I mentioned, they tend to soften the tart up much quicker, but if you’re eating it right away that won’t matter.

berry ricotta slice

The hardest part will be waiting for it to cool down so you can have a slice with some coffee, don’t forget to sprinkle it with a nice shower of powdered sugar! With Mother’s day around the corner this just might be one to make for that special mom in your life.

Whipped Ricotta Berry Tart
 
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A berry ricotta tart, not too sweet but oh so delicious with a nice crunchy phyllo crust.
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Ingredients
  • ½ stick of unsalted butter, melted
  • 8 sheets of phyllo dough
  • tart pan with removable bottom, I used an 11 x 8 rectangle pan
  • FILLING:
  • 2 cups whole milk ricotta, make sure it's well drained if it's from a deli, or use a good one from a grocery in the cheese section
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup of sugar
  • ¼ cup of heavy cream
  • the zest of 1 lemon
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • a mix of berries, I don't measure those, I just fill in and cover the top of the tart to my liking
  • powder sugar for sprinkling the tart when cooled
Instructions
  1. Heat your oven to 350F, you're going to pre-bake the phyllo for 15 minutes.
  2. With the melted butter, brush your tart pan all over.
  3. Working fast,add 1 sheet of phyllo at a time brushing it all over with the melted butter, repeat brushing the butter on to all the rest of the phyllo sheets.
  4. You're going to layer them on top of each other, squishing them around the sides of the pan, don't worry if they rip, no one will know, phyllo is very for giving.
  5. Put the tart pan onto a cookie sheet for easy in and out of the oven and place into your pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
  6. If it puffs up when you take it out just press it down with the back of a spoon, set it aside, now make your filling.
  7. Raise the oven temp to 375F now.
  8. In a medium size bowl whisk together the ricotta, eggs, heavy cream, sugar, zest and extracts til nice and smooth.
  9. Pour the filling on top of the pre-baked phyllo dough.
  10. Sprinkle your berries all around filling in and covering the top of the ricotta mixture.
  11. Bake for another 30- 45 minutes, remember it all depends on your oven, everyone is different and also if the ricotta has a lot of moisture and is not drained properly, that could affect the cooking time as well, I didn't use the deli kind.
  12. Take the tip of a knife after 30 minutes and see if it comes out pretty clean in the center, if not check every 5 more minutes.
  13. Let the tart cool down before you slice into it then sprinkle powder sugar all over it.
  14. Enjoy this creamy, crunchy berry bite!

 

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4 Comments Filed Under: Cakes, Fruit, Summer, Sweet Tart Tagged: , , , ,

Fresh Berry Slab Pie

June 25, 2018 by 6 Comments

fresh berry slab pie

Fresh berry slab pie, I can’t think of a better dessert to serve up for all your upcoming summertime parties, especially with the fourth of July right around the corner.

Fresh berries are at their peak right now so it’s the perfect time to make this, you could use any combination of berries you like or even just one type, here I used mostly blueberries with an added pint of raspberries for a little pop of color.

I have to admit this is the first time I made a slab pie and now I don’t think I’ll ever use a round pie pan again.

fresh berry slab pie

A slab pie is made on a rimmed sheet pan, I used a quarter sized sheet pan, and I got twelve good size servings from it, although you can get adventurous and use a large half sized sheet pan for a really big crowd, probably doubling everything, you bakers would know how to do that correctly.

What I like about making a slab pie is that it’s easy to cut and serve, it’s not messy because you get nice square pieces and it travels well.

You can cover the top with a full crust or be a little creative with some cutouts to match the occasion, I used stars to celebrate the fourth of July.

berries and dough

I also used refrigerated pie dough, my favorite being from Trader Joe’s because why not? It tastes excellent and it makes this berry slab pie a breeze to put together, but in saying that I’m sure all you fabulous bakers out there can whip up an excellent pie dough in no time!

pie dough

Even though I use refrigerated pie dough I still gather up the dough, form it into a ball and roll it out myself, which you’ll need to do anyway for this because a nice rectangle size is required.

fresh berry slab pie

Just make sure you roll out enough dough to form a pretty crust all the way around. I bought two boxes just to make sure I would have enough for everything, including my stars because I didn’t know at the time how many I would need to cover the top.

star dough cutouts

It was fun and easy to do, I just used a cookie cutter which would make the possibilities endless to top it off with, or just go with a classic lattice crust as well, but I do think it looks really nice having the berries show through instead of covering the whole top with a crust.

fresh berry slab pie

All brushed with egg so it gets nicely golden and ready for the oven!

fresh berry slab pie

This was out of this world good, now I want to make a peach slab pie and of course an apple one in the fall.

fresh berry slab pie

Vanilla ice cream is a must!

Follow Proud Italian Cook on Instagram to see what else I’m cooking up during the week.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Fresh Berry Slab Pie
 
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Filling recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
Author:
Ingredients
  • standard ¼ sized rimmed sheet pan for the slab pie but place it on a larger sheet pan to catch drips in the oven when baking.
  • 2 boxes of refrigerated dough, I used Trader Joe's. ( You might end up with a little extra) If frozen defrost according to package.
  • 8 cups of fresh berries, I used mostly blueberries with a pint of raspberries but you can add blackberries or just use one type, whatever you prefer.
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons corn starch
  • 1 Tablespoon of lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 1 egg whisked with a bit of water to brush over the top and crust
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 400F.
  2. In a large bowl add the berries, zest, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice, toss gently to make sure everything is coated, set aside to form crust.
  3. Take one box of the dough, ball it together and roll it out into a rectangle making sure you have enough over hang to make a nice edge all the way around. I found I needed to use more dough so I opened the second box and pieced it together giving me more for my over hang which was really easy.
  4. Once the bottom crust is formed and edges nicely crimped, scoop out the berry filling into it, don't pour it because you don't need the excess juice that might be on the bottom of the bowl, so just scoop it out.
  5. Now take more dough and roll it out so you can do cutouts if you like. I did stars on mine.
  6. Place the cutouts over the berries.
  7. Use your egg wash and with a pastry brush cover the edge of the crust and the cutouts, this will ensure a nice golden color when finished.
  8. NOW REDUCE TEMPERATURE TO 375F.
  9. Place the prepared pie into the oven and set your timer for 60 minutes, but check at 55 minutes to see how it looks.
  10. I added 10 more minutes to mine to get the color I wanted, and you should be able to see the blueberries thickening and slightly bubbling, if it looks too runny put it in for a few minutes more.
  11. Let it cool way before eating this, I suggest hours.
  12. I made mine in the morning and served it after dinner, it cut beautiful that way.
  13. It can stay out for 2 days un refrigerated with foil loosely covering it, after 2 days refrigerate, that is if you have leftovers.
  14. Serves 10- 12
  15. Serve with a scoop of ice cream, you won't regret it!

 

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6 Comments Filed Under: Fruit, Pies, Summer Tagged: , , ,