Bresaola cheese packets

INGREDIENTS: (Serves two)

Olive oil
4 ounces (120g) bresaola, sliced thin
4 ounces ricotta cheese
1 ounce mild goat cheese
2 ounces Italian-style roast red peppers
Salt
Black pepper
Salad greens and vinaigrette or dressing of your choice.

PROCEDURE:

1. Lightly grease four rice bowls or other similar small bowls by wiping them with a little olive oil on a paper towel. Line each bowl with about one-fourth of your bresaola slices, laying them in carefully in an overlapping rosette pattern to make a complete circle, with the outer edges of the meat draped over the edge of each bowl.

2. Cut the red peppers into small pieces and blend them with the cheeses into a thick, pink puree with a stand or stick blender; add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Put about one-fourth of the cheese and roast pepper mixture into each bowl and carefully turn the loose edges of the bresaola over the cheese so as to enclose the filling completely with meat to make a more-or-less round ball.

4. Put the bowls in the refrigerator for about an hour or the freezer for 15 minutes or so until they're refreshingly cold. (Feel free to skip this step if you don't care about refreshingly cold.) Then invert each bowl onto a serving plate, two per serving. Surround with dressed greens and serve.

WINE MATCH: Just about any dry red wine should do fine. A Pinot Noir would work very nicely with the earthy characters of bresaola and goat cheese, and any acidic Italian red would make a natural pairing. It was fine, too, with a Bordeaux blend from the Eastern U.S., the Blenheim Vineyard 2002 Virginia Meritage featured in the June 5, 2004 30 Second Wine Advisor.