If burrata is on a menu, it’s generally our appetizer choice. However, as delicious as the traditional burrata served with some basil and tomatoes is, there’s so much more we can do to make even better. Around the country, restaurants are doing some wild spins on burrata. Everything from pizzas to sandwiches, and we want to eat every single dish.
Fried Green Tomatoes With Burrata
Located in San Diego, BANKERS HILL BAR + Restaurant is owned and operated by restaurateur Terryl Gavre and three-time James Beard Award nominee, Chef Carl Schroeder. The menu features an array of American favorites with a gourmet twist, including fried green tomatoes with burrata. Fried green tomatoes are topped with house-made tomato jam, burrata, basil oil and arugula. “The fried green tomatoes with burrata is our BANKERS HILL twist on the caprese salad. I like the combination of the cool and creamy burrata with the warm, crispy and salty fried tomatoes. The burrata almost melts over the tomatoes, and the cool and peppery finish of the arugula really rounds out the dish. We have this on the menu every summer and we come up against a lot of resistance when we take off the menu in the fall because it is such a popular dish,’ says Tyler Nollenberger, Chef de Cuisine.
Burrata Pizza
At Macchina NYC, their signature off-menu item is the Burrata Pizza. The process of making the pizza starts with preparing housemade burrata piped with the perfect amount of ricotta for the ultimate cheese spread. The burrata is placed in the center of the margarita pizza and baked in the oven a big longer for the perfect consistency. “We wanted to prepare the perfect combination of comfort foods and the ultimate cheese pizza. You can’t beat the combination!” says owner Sean Rawlinson.
Burrata Wedge Salad
Chef Fabio Viviani incorporates the fresh Italian cheese into many of his dishes. However, a standout dish is his Burrata Wedge Salad served at Bar Siena in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago. Most salads usually include some kind of cheese; parmesan on a Caesar, a bleu cheese in a cobb, mozzarella in caprese and feta in a Greek. Although cheese is a common ingredient, it is hard to integrate the soft and creamy burrata cheese into a salad. Nonetheless, this didn’t stop the celebrity chef from creating his top-selling salad. “When I was developing Bar Siena’s menu I wanted to make sure we used the freshest ingredients,” said Chef Viviani. “It was a no-brainer for me to do something with the fresh Italian cheese, burrata, and make it the star component to one of my salads.” This salad is made specifically for a cheese lover, as Bar Siena’s Burrata Wedge is a wedge of iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, smoked bacon and a large scoop of the burrata cheese on top. In addition, the salad is then topped with pickled red onion, and a mild dunbarton bleu cheese vinaigrette dressing with a side of crostini.
Ensalada de Nopales
Chef Diana Dávila, the Chef/Owner of Mi Tocaya Antojería in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, currently has a delicious cactus salad with burrata on the menu. Her Ensalada de Nopales comes with raw cactus, burrata, red onion and chicharron and is a delicious and refreshing combination during warmer months. She has also paired burrata with cactus in the past and used it as a topping in her Guisado de Nopalitos (a very comforting stew featuring nopales, different types of squash, corn and tomatoes).
Di Stefano Burrata With Fried Green Tomato Salad
At 71Above, on the 71st floor of the US Bank Tower in Downtown Los Angeles, executive chef Vartan Abgaryan crafts a lunchtime burrata dish that’s as pretty as the view from the restaurant. Di Stefano Burrata (the best in the biz, and the brand that introduced Burrata to the USA in 1993) is served with a crispy cornmeal coated fried green tomato, frisée, tomatillo, buttermilk, and dill. “The dish is a riff on the classic Fried Green Tomatoes with buttermilk ranch dressing, but here is elevated by a creamy, buttermilk-marinated burrata, and seasoned with dill, lemon garlic and shallots. The burrata adds a luxurious creamy texture to a bright, fresh dish,” says Chef Vartan Abgaryan of 71Above.
The Burrata Sandwich
At Moto Deli in Leucadia, California, this is a filling spin on a classic salad. Burrata, tomatoes, onion, basil, arugula and serrano ham on ciabatta bread. “Who doesn’t love a good caprese salad? But we’re a sandwich shop, so we put a new spin on a classic favorite by putting it all in a fluffy ciabatta roll,” said Moto Deli Chef, Andrew Halvorsen.
Burrata With Spicy Carrots
Chef Matt Bolus of The 404 Kitchen in Nashville, TN cooks carrots with Calabrian chiles and bay leaves until he has a sweet and spicy sauce that rests underneath his hand-pulled burrata. “The sweetness of the carrots and spiciness of the peppers are the perfect flavors to cut through the richness of the burrata,” says Chef Matt Bolus.
Pepperoni Braised Eggplant with Burrata
Located in Staunton, Virginia, The Shack is a 26-seat restaurant and its chef/owner Ian Bowden is currently making a Pepperoni Braised Eggplant dish with burrata, crispy okra and okra seed oil. “We consider this a ‘high low’ dish. Pepperoni is often seen only a topping for pizza, but chefs know the truth: that it’s a complex balance of flavors made with great pork and strong spices. In this dish, that spice complements the meaty eggplant and then we add the cool creaminess of the burrata. We add texture with crispy okra and sweet green flavors from our okra seed oil,” says Chef Ian Bowden.
Wood-Grilled Burrata Burger
At Little Dom’s in Los Angeles, Chef Brandon Boudet tops his wood-grilled patty with burrata, house-pickled green tomatoes and Niman Ranch bacon; served on a grilled ciabatta bun. “I find burrata to be an incredibly underrated burger topping. Its rich creaminess perfectly complements the patty’s deep char, which I get from grilling it in a wood oven; meanwhile, the acidity of the house-pickled green tomatoes offsets the burrata’s richness and adds texture, as do the crunchy bacon slices.”
Berry Gazpacho Burrata
At Bar Garcia in Los Angeles, there’s a fresh, fruity twist on burrata. Chef Juan Pablo Torre tops his with a triple berry gazpacho, extra virgin olive oil and Thai basil. “The triple berry gazpacho adds a sweet tartness that cuts through and balances the creamy burrata. The fruitiness is further enhanced with a drizzle of first press extra virgin olive oil. While basil is often paired with burrata, I prefer the Thai variety for its strong aroma and sweet spiciness,” says Chef Torre.
Burrata al Carbon
Chef Ruiz at Casi Cielo is creating a Mexican version of the Italian bruschetta with buffalo mozzarella. The tortilla is used instead of a crostini, the salsa verde is used in place of the regular tomato, the micro greens are like the basil, and the búfala is the mozzarella. Served with Tortilla morada, this dish is intended to be a Mexican spin on Italian bruschetta with burrata. Tortilla is used instead of a crostini, the salsa verde is used instead of Roma tomato, and micro greens take the place of basil. Everything served at Casi Cielo is designed to stimulate the senses and entice the palate. We respect the ingredients, history and traditions of Mexican cuisine – though we love to draw inspiration from other cultures as well,” says Juan Pablo Ruiz, Executive Chef of Casi Cielo, located in Sandy Springs, Georgia outside of Atlanta.
