By Andrea Immer

Pairing with Rosé

This is a wonderful play on contrasts, with toasty-warm flatbread and puffy-soft mozzarella. The cool strawberries are both sweet and savory from the balsamic vinegar and pepper. The dish is mind-bending with wine. My top pick - a cool glass of Navarro dry rosé - touches every flavor note in the dish, and is wonderful for a spring-summer alfresco lunch or dinner. I also love this as a starter when grilling steaks or burgers and veggies. In that case I cook the flatbreads first-thing on the grill (rather than the oven), and we enjoy them with the wine while grilling the rest of the meal.

• 1 pint fresh strawberries, stemmed and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar or Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
• Coarse, freshly ground black pepper for grinding over the flatbreads
• Six 6-inch pita or flatbread rounds (whole wheat or white)
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
• Coarse salt to taste
• 5 small balls (about 2-inch diameter) fresh mozzarella cheese, about 6 ounces
• 5 fresh basil leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or preheat a grill to medium. Combine the strawberries, vinegar, and pepper in a medium non-reactive mixing bowl and let stand at room temperature for at least 5 and up to 30 minutes.

2. Brush the flatbreads lightly on both sides with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Place on baking sheet and heat in oven 2 minutes to soften; or, place flatbreads directly on the heated grill for two minutes to soften and toast slightly. Remove, cut in quarters, and return to the baking sheet.

3. Slice the mozzarella into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Layer 3 to 4 mozzarella slices on the toasted pita quarters, and return to oven until the cheese is puffy, about 2 minutes; or, place pita quarters directly on the grill and close the lid until the cheese is puffy, about 2 minutes. The cheese may get a few toasty-brown spots, but watch carefully to prevent over-browning.

4. Meanwhile, finely chop the basil leaves and stir gently into the strawberries.

5. When the pita quarters come out of the oven or off the grill, spoon the strawberry mixture over the cheese and serve immediately.

Serves 6 as a first course or light main course.