Welcome back fellow ‘If, And & Butter-FREE’ foodies!  

This week:  ’tis the season for one of my personal faves!  The ultimate Italian Appetizer. 

Heirloom Tomato & Burrata Caprese

Simple…at it’s finest. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Large Heirloom Tomato (significant flavor variance between heirloom colors…green is tart, yellow is mild…red, which I recommend for this, is sweet and full flavored)
2. Burrata (Trader Joe’s sells a killer burrata!)
3. Fresh Basil
4. Aged Balsamic
5. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6. Sea Salt
7. Cracked Black Pepper

Burrata, while SOOOO delicious, is really quite rustic in nature and a bit messy.  This can make for a great presentation, in my opinion (and for anyone who knows me and has seen my hair, you already know that strategic messes are sort of my thing.  haha!)   Anyhow, back to the app…

Because of the rustic nature of this Italian mozzarella masterpiece, I prefer to cut chunks out of a large heirloom tomato (rather than slicing the tomato in the usual ring slices).  Once I plate my tomato chunks, I season them with S&P,  Then I lay pieces of burrata over the top of the tomatoes and drizzle the cheese with extra virgin olive oil (I do prefer extra virgin here, because personally I think the strong flavor adds one more dimension of depth to the overall flavor of the dish).

Now add your layer of fresh basil leaves and pour a small amount of aged balsamic into the middle of the caprese salad…this will allow the balsamic to bleed out onto the plate and into the olive oil.  This will disperse it evenly and make it easier to enjoy by slightly dipping each bite into the mixture.

Fresh.  Crisp.  Delicious.     What’s that?  How could this get any better, you ask? 

With a glass of Friulano, that’s how!  😉

buon appetito!