Supported by
Consider This Permission to Eat Burrata for Dinner
Once, in a restaurant in Puglia, Italy, I ate an entire burrata by myself.
It was not one of those petite, tennis-ball-size burratas that you see surrounded by heirloom tomatoes in restaurants here in the United States. Nearly as big as a cantaloupe, the wobbly burrata, made from mozzarella filled with cream, was bursting on the plate, the oozing cream pooled around it.
I hadn’t meant to devour it all, spoonful by luscious spoonful. But once I got going, there was no turning back. That naked burrata, freshly made that morning, had never seen the inside of a fridge, and it was all I wanted for dinner that night.
Here in the United States, the burratas are smaller and at least a couple of days older by the time they get to the market. They’re still luscious, though they can benefit from a bit of embellishment. Even just a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and a drizzle of good olive oil bring out their creaminess.
In this recipe, I go even further, adding a robust salad to turn a lone cheese into a satisfying summer meal. My goal was to take full advantage of the season, and use a variety of vegetables with different colors and textures.
Naturally, it being August, I had to include tomatoes and eggplant. The velvety roasted eggplant accentuates the soft richness of the burrata, while the tomatoes make for a sweet and juicy contrast.
Then, for another contrast — this one crisp and snappy — I also toss in blanched Romano beans. These flat, broad pole beans, which sort of look like steamrolled green beans, are getting easier to find. I’ve also made this salad with yellow Romano beans, and with dragon’s tongue beans (flat yellow beans mottled with purple), and they work well, too. Or substitute regular green beans or wax beans.
As a final touch, instead of using regular olive oil, I dress the salad with heady homemade garlic oil. That process does require you to confit some garlic cloves, which sounds fancier and more difficult than it is, and you can do it while you prepare the eggplant. The great upside is that you can spread the leftover garlic confit on grilled bread to serve on the side. Or save it to mix into future vinaigrettes.
This elaborate salad may take more time than just plopping a burrata on top of some baby arugula — or eating it straight with a spoon. And it is worth every moment spent.
More on Food and Dining
Keep tabs on dining trends, restaurant reviews and recipes.
Flamboyant displays of fake flowers at restaurants have turned into a maximalist design movement, with one man as a chief trendsetter.
Perloo, a supremely comforting one-pot rice dish, is a Lowcountry staple with roots in West Africa.
Some of the greatest meals pair exalted wines with foods considered humble. Exploring beyond the conventional can be joyous, like the timeless appeal of Champagne and fried chicken.
For many Jamaicans, spice bun is a staple of Lent. But there’s nothing restrictive about this baked good, so named for its bold seasonings.
For Ecuadoreans, fanesca, a labor-intensive lenten soup served just during the lead-up to Easter, is a staple of Holy Week festivities.
Sign up for our “The Veggie” newsletter to get vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties.
Eating in New York City
Once the pre-eminent food court in Flushing, Queens, for regional Chinese cuisines, the Golden Mall has reopened after a four-year renovation. A new one in Manhattan is on the horizon.
At Noksu, dinner is served below the street, a few yards from the subway turnstiles. But the room and the food seem unmoored from any particular place.
You thought Old World opulence was over? A prolific chef gives it a new and very personal spin at Café Carmellini, Pete Wells writes.
Eyal Shani’s Port Sa’id challenges the conventional wisdom that you can’t get good food in a restaurant with a turntable.
Advertisement