TOMATO & BURRATA SALAD

There’s something so satisfying about a well-seasoned tomato. Just a little bit of olive oil, salt and a few drops of vinegar and you take something that is already a perfect combination of sweet, sour and savoury and amplify all of these amazing qualities.

This is a simple preparation in the style of a Caprese, an Italian salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. I love to hate this dish because of how little effort many tourist-trap Italian restaurants put into it (squeeze bottle balsamic reduction be damned).

We’re going to make the best version of this salad that we can by sourcing great ingredients, seasoning things well and serving everything at the right temperature. The optional step of blanching and peeling the tomatoes isn’t necessary but removing the skin from smaller cherry tomatoes is an amazing way of allowing them to hold on to seasoning and become delicate little flavour bombs.

I’ve strayed from convention by opting for a nice piece of burrata, mozzarella’s sexy cousin as well as finishing off the dish with a few parmesan shavings for a little boost of saltiness and umami.

TOMATO AND BURRATA SALAD

Stephen La Rosa

The optional step of blanching and peeling the tomatoes isn’t necessary but removing the skin from smaller cherry tomatoes is an amazing way of allowing them to hold on to seasoning and become delicate little flavour bombs.

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Prep Time 10

Inactive time 15

Course Appetizer, Drinks, Main Course, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Servings

EQUIPMENT

INGREDIENTS

1000 g Tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, mixed
250 g Burrata, or Buffalo Mozzarella
Small bunch Basil
Aged Balsamic Vinegar
Red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Flakey sea salt

METHOD

(optional) Place a pot of boiling water over high heat. Drop a few similarly sized tomatoes into the water ( 10 seconds for cherry tomatoes, 15 seconds for medium-sized tomatoes and up to 20 seconds for large ones).
1000 g Tomatoes and cherry tomatoes
Remove from the hot water and immediately place into ice water.
Once they are cool enough to handle, remove the skin using a small paring knife.
Lightly dress the tomatoes with salt, extra virgin olive oil, a few drops of sherry vinegar and some torn basil leaves. Allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before transferring to a serving dish.
Red wine vinegar, Extra virgin olive oil, Flakey sea salt, Small bunch Basil
Tear the burrata into bite-sized pieces and arrange over the tomatoes with plenty more torn basil. Sprinkle a little bit of salt onto the cheese if it lacks it.
250 g Burrata
Finish with a final drizzling of good quality extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (the good stuff).
Aged Balsamic Vinegar, Extra virgin olive oil

PRO TIPS

Store tomatoes at room temperature. In the fridge they’ll start to go mealy and lose their flavour.

On a similar note, serve the tomatoes at room temperature, same with the cheese. Flavours are muted when cold and burrata is already a very mild cheese. Serving them slightly chilled or room temperature elevates their flavour.

The peeling step is a lot of work and not completely necessary but it does allow the cherry tomatoes especially to take on so much more flavour and makes them much more delicate to eat. serve tomatoes at room temperature

Keyword balsamic vinegar, basil, Burrata, extra virgin olive oil, mozzarella, Tomato

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