One thing that stands out in my mind about traveling in Italy and especially Tuscany is the cheese, yes, the cheese~~it’s glorious, and one of my favorites is asiago. Cheese like wine is complex, and it takes some investigation into really understanding the differences in various cheeses and between ‘fresh’ and ‘seasoned’. My friends at Asiago Cheese PDO sent me recently some asiago cheese, yes, straight from Italy, and I must say as I bit into it, I was whisked back to Italy and those days traveling on the backroads through small villages, visiting grocers and eating at spectacularly simple eateries with divine food. Amazing what food does for the imagination!
Real Italian cheese has markings on it~~on the seal is the name, plus it’s got an identification number and the logo Pdo, which stands for ‘protected designation of origin’. Fresh asiago is like sponge cake; it doesn’t stick to your fingers and it’s not greasy. Delicate, elastic and like sweet cow’s milk with a slight acidity of yogurt. Seasoned asiago has differences in its texture, taste and feel. For this recipe, let’s go fresh! Here’s to whether it’s fresh or seasoned~~it’s totally boholicious~~ ~peace & asiago formaggio D.O.P.~ ally xoxo
For more about my work with Dole~click here~
Serves: 2-4
What you need:
8 slices (each about 4″ squares) artisan bread slices (about 1″ thick)
4 Tbl. butter, room temperature
8 fresh asiago cheese slices (my asiago was a wedge shape and I sliced from this)
1/2 cup Dole dates, chopped
3 Tbl. fresh mint, chopped
What you do:
Butter one side of each of the bread pieces. Put a heavy skillet on medium high heat, place bread buttered side down and grill until golden brown.
Remove and put equal amounts of asiago cheese on each slice and about a heaping tablespoon of chopped dates. Put on a cookie sheet. Put under a broiler (about 6-10″ from broiler) for about 60-90 seconds or just until the cheese starts to melt.
Remove and garnish with the chopped mint. Ready to eat!
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