Burrata: mozzarella’s creamy cousin

I myself am surprised that my favorite burata recipes have not been described here yet (it will be written on the package burrata), although this is a product that I buy and make if not once a week, then definitely at least several times a month! And no, it’s not just a warm season ingredient, I even have a few favorite warm recipes. So, about everything in a row.

There is a first time for everything

Once upon a time, Arvydus and I went to a restaurant in Tel Aviv. We looked at the menu and ordered all kinds of snacks. By the way, we follow this tactic often, we order a lot starters, and share them. You can taste a lot of things and see the craftsmanship of the restaurant. If you are not full, you can order one more main course, but usually the main courses repeat the same elements from starters. I better leave room for one or even two desserts 😉 That time too, we didn’t point a finger and accepted everything, it was delicious, but when they brought a bowl of multi-colored tomatoes, warmed up a little, with, as it seemed at the time, a big bubble of mozzarella, which, when cut, ran out of liquid soft mass, it blew the roof away, how delicious it was. I didn’t think to immediately look in the English menu to see what it was, so it took me a while to find out that it was burrata. And after a few years, burata not only became popular in Lithuanian restaurants, but also appeared in retail chains.

Where and what kind of burrata to buy

A little bit about shopping networks burat. At one time we bought every species that was available at the time. Maximos, Rimi, IKI, Lidl and from an Italian grocery store. The advice is, if you don’t want to be disappointed, choose products with a shorter shelf life, without any additional shelf life additives. Burrata – a double product, such a cheese dumpling. A bag of mozzarella with a firmer consistency on the outside, and a liquid mixture of the same mozzarella and cream on the inside, so the size of the product is important. A very small burrata comes with a more thick layer of mozzarella and not much filling, a completely pointless product in my opinion. 150 g of product and more is already tasty. 150 g is the right amount for one eater, and a bigger one is not a sin to carefully divide in half. In Lithuania, I usually buy Lidl burrata, the taste is very close to that sold in specialized stores, only much cheaper. Maybe when I and more food enthusiasts start writing and sharing recipes, burrata will become so popular that other chains won’t be afraid to add real, fresh, delicious burrata to their assortment.

What to cook with burrata

You can start with pure burrata – take it out of the jar, drizzle with premium extra virgin olive oil, season with quality sea salt flakes and enjoy with fresh or toasted white bread. And if you add some pesto or fresh basil, it’s very tasty.

Then, the simplest

Burrata and tomato salad recipe

Cut the tomatoes into a deep plate, the more colors and sizes, the tastier. Put burrata cheese on top, sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil of the highest quality, season with quality sea salt flakes, if you have pesto or balsamic vinegar sauce, pine nuts. Delicious with toasted bread.

Warm burrata salad with fried tomatoes

Wash the grape tomatoes, and preferably, if you have them, grape, small tomatoes in as many different colors as possible, and dry them well with a towel. Finely chop the shallots and a clove of garlic. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a convenient frying pan, fry the shallots, add the garlic, stir and after half a minute add the tomatoes. Stir-fry on high heat for a few minutes. It is necessary for it to warm up, for the baking effect called marjoram to appear, but not to start exploding. Then turn off the heat, add a spoonful of good balsamic vinegar (not cream). Place the cut pieces of burata on the plates and divide the fried tomatoes around them. Pour the sauce over the burrata cheese. Garnish with fresh basil, thyme; a few kalamata olives are great if you have them. Season with quality sea salt flakes and pepper with freshly ground black pepper. Eat while painting on toast.

Festive burrata with roasted black grapes

This one the recipe I looked it up in Ottolenghi’s book Simple, but I changed it to make it even easier to make and more simple 🙂

It needs black, seedless grapes, olive oil, a clove of garlic, cumin seeds, I also add coriander seeds, salt flakes, and of course, burrata. In the original recipe, the grapes are grilled, strung on wooden sticks, and I just bake them in the oven. By the way, at the same time, in the same oven, I also bake beets and tomatoes for other dishes.

I immediately choose a vessel to prepare and serve, put washed, dried grapes without seeds and without branches into it. I crush cumin, coriander in a spice mortar and put everything on the grapes, sprinkle with olive oil, add finely chopped garlic, mix everything well and bake. It is baked until the grape juice evaporates and it begins to caramelize. Then I take the whole dish out of the oven and let it cool down a little. I put burat on top and season it with fresh basil, olive oil, and quality sea salt flakes. And a beautiful and delicious dish, very suitable for sharing during gatherings of friends.

Burrata is ideal with panzanella – bread, tomato salad. Here is the recipe here. Then, very tasty with roasted beetroot, perfect instead of feta or goat cheese in upside-down tarte tatin cakes, here with beets, and here with tomatoes.

After all, I mentioned that once a week I cook something with burata, because it’s delicious 🙂