The Mozza Cookbook

My version of this classic recipe

The cover of the cookbook

I began my journey through my kitchen library with The Mozza Cookbook by Nancy Silverton — and it felt like the only place to start. Long before this project, I had gone to her restaurant Campanile and to her bakery, La Brea, in Los Angeles during the 1980s, and I remember being absolutely blown away. She was so far ahead of her time. I still remember sourdough chocolate cherry bread appearing there — something almost unheard of then — and realizing I was tasting a completely new way of thinking about bread and food.

So beginning this cookbook journey with Nancy Silverton felt personal. It carried history for me — a thread stretching from those early meals in Los Angeles to my own kitchen now.

The cookbook itself is serious, beautiful, and highly professional, though it also offers moments of surprising simplicity. The first dish I made was the Caprese salad with pesto and roasted tomatoes, and it was absolutely delicious: simple, balanced, and unforgettable in the way truly great food often is.

Mozza Caprese

1 ½ pounds fresh burrata

Flaky sea salt

¼ cup pesto

30 - 40 roasted cherry tomatoes (recipe follows)

Olive oil for drizzling

Large basil leaves for garnish

Cut burrata into 6 equal pieces and lay each piece, cut side up on a plate. Season with the salt and spoon the pesto over each portion. Lay the tomatoes on top, about 5 - 7 per serving. Drizzle with olive oil and scatter the snipped basil leaves over each serving. Serves 6

Roasted Tomatoes

2 9 ounce packages cherry tomatoes on stems

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 300*. Place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Brush the tomatoes with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the tomatoes on the wire rack and put in the oven to roast until the skins are shriveled but the tomatoes are still plump, about 1 ½ hours. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.