I love cheese. Pretty much every type of cheese. I didn’t know about burrata cheese until recently. Burrata is fresh mozzarella’s sultry, sexy big sister. Once I discovered burrata, it instantly became my new obsession. This fabulous light summer dinner salad featuring burrata was inspired by a combination of burrata recipes recently featured on Food & Wine.
Burrata – A Class Of Its Own
Not familiar with burrata? Burrata is found in the refrigerated section of the grocery, not in the fancy cheese section. It looks like fresh mozzarella that is wrapped up in a little package, only the package is actually fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, usually tied into a little knot at the top. It comes in a container submerged in liquid to keep it fresh. Drain the liquid, then it’s fully edible. When you cut into it you’ll find a soft, creamy, sweeter layer. It’s really not like any other cheese you’ve tried before.
Beat The Heat
It’s August. It’s hot. Dinner needs to be simple and light, but it’s gotta satisfy. The total time on this dinner salad was seriously 10 minutes and that includes walking to the fridge and pulling the ingredients out plus walking outside to the garden to cut the arugula.
Toss peppery arugula with a grilled mango and a grilled avocado. Add chunks of heirloom tomato and torn strips of salty prosciutto. Place your creamy, luxurious burrata right in the middle. Spritz with a simple champagne vinaigrette with a touch of Dijon, finely sliced cayenne pepper and torn fresh mint. It is simpler AND sexier than it sounds. Trust me.
Mangoes are one of those produce items that I rarely buy simply because the ones I find in the store are crap. Usually they are totally under-ripe so only about a tenth of the actual fruit is usable. A great substitute for mango in this salad would be fresh peaches, especially since they are in season right now. Grilled peaches are just as divine. They also make a great dessert. The recipe below is from Cooking Light (and features another sexy cheese – marscapone!)
The Inspiration
The recipe that introduced me to burrata was also featured in Food & Wine magazine. Cacio e pepe with Crispy White Beans and Burrata can be found on my Something Borrowed page. The picture alone was the sell.
Grilled Fruit – No Grill Required
My cast iron grill pan is always getting it’s exercise. Never tried grilling avocado? Time to start. A quick hit with olive oil cooking spray and 2 minutes on a medium-high grill pan will change your avocado game. The mango gets gorgeous sear marks but still stays cool and juicy.
If you think this recipe looks tempting, check out Seared Halloumi with Cumin-Lime Chickpeas, Pistachios and Mint. Halloumi is THE other cheese that you need to discover.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 avocado, halved and pitted
- 1 mango, halved, peeled and pitted
- olive oil cooking spray
- 2 cups fresh arugula
- 1 small heirloom tomato, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 slices prosciutto
- 1 pkg burrata
- 1 fresh cayenne pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
- 4 tbsp fresh mint, torn
Instructions
- Heat a cast iron grill pan over medium-high heat. Spray each half of the avocado and each half of the mango with olive oil cooking spray. Sear on the grill pan for 2 minutes, flip and sear one more minute. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the white wine vinegar, Dijon and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Plate: Divide the arugula between two salad bowls. Divide the tomato. Tear 1 slice of prosciutto into strips for each bowl. Remove burrata from liquid and cut in half, split between each bowl. Scoop the grilled avocado from the skin and place half in each bowl, split the mango. Drizzle the vinaigrette over each salad, top with torn mint. Serve immediately.
I cannot wait to make this!! The photos are just beautiful, too!!!
I made it again last night. Love it more each time. I actually used speck instead of prosciutto. They are basically the same thing, but speck is a little more hearty. Make sure to subscribe so you can receive new recipes!