ViaVio Artisan Cheese Salads

In a celebration of spring and NZ Cheese Month recipe guru Kathy Paterson has taken inspiration from a recent meal at South Australian Restaurant, Bottega Bandito - creating two small plates packed with flavour using fresh ViaVio cheese. Kathy says the simplicity of these dishes is striking and shines the light on keeping things simple. She suggests serving these dishes for lunch with crusty bread and a crisp green salad, you can add cured meats and olives too.

Stracciatella di Burrata Salad

Serves 4

1 pot Viavio Stracciatella di Burrata (a stringy mixture of cream, mozzarella and salt. A special rich fresh cheese unlike any other)

2-3 large, very ripe tomatoes, very finely sliced

1 shallot, very finely sliced

extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Aleppo pepper, for sprinkling

Roughly spread the fresh cheese out onto a plate. Top with the tomato slices then the shallot slices.

Drizzle over olive oil and sprinkle with a little Aleppo pepper.

Serve straight away.

Stracchino & Orange Salad

A popular spreadable cheese from Northern Italy, Stracchino has no rind. With a soft and creamy texture, a mild delicate flavour, the taste is a little sour, between cheese and yoghurt.

Serves 4

200g ViaVio Stracchino

2-3 oranges, peeled and very finely sliced

1 shallot, very finely sliced

extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Togarishi (Japanese spice mixture), for sprinkling

Roughly spread the fresh cheese out onto a plate. Top with the orange slices then the shallot slices.

 Drizzle over olive oil and sprinkle with a little Togarishi.

 Serve straight away.