A Fresh Take on Lasagna

I'm not sure I've met anyone that doesn't like cheese, but one of my personal favorites is Mozzarella di Bufala Campana (click the link if you want to read more). There are lots of brands of mozzarella out there, but if it's not made with buffalo milk, it's not the real thing. Of course, that's not to say that other mozzarellas are not good.

My personal favorite is a brand called Garofalo, which I discovered in Napoli. If you ever see this brand at the store, you should try it. It's hard to find, but you can get it at specialty food stores and places like Whole Foods.

Fresh buffalo mozzarella is wonderfully flavorful and creamy, and it is best served with very light flavors such as tomato with a hint of basil, which, as you probably know, comprises the world famous Caprese Salad. I've also served it with thinly sliced jalapenos (my personal favorite), roasted red peppers and even slices of cucumber.

Recently, I created a "quasi" lasagna using the cheese. This recipe is really fun because you can experiment with the different flavors. Here is a list of ingredients you could use, but improvise if you feel like it!

• Ripe tomato (I used a purple heirloom tomato in the photos below)
  
• Avocado
• Roasted red pepper
• Cucumber
• Sausage
• Basil (or herbed olive oil)
• Grilled zucchini

Last time I made this, I used all of the ingredients above, except cucumber.

For four servings: First, I grilled a couple Italian sausages and some quarter-inch slices of zucchini seasoned with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Next, slice up your mozzarella, tomatoes, avocado, etc., and cut the sausage into thin slices lengthwise. Season your tomato, mozzarella and avocado lightly with salt and begin layering your ingredients. I put some crumbels of feta on top last time.