A burrata salad is perfect as a light lunch or dinner in the summer. It's quick to prepare - all you need to do is roughly chop a few fresh ingredients - it's not heavy on the stomach and simply tastes delicious. The classic combination of fresh tomatoes, basil or arugula, pine nuts and burrata is particularly common - with the burrata here providing a creamier alternative to the slightly firmer mozzarella in a classic tomato salad. However, the fresh cheese also pairs beautifully with sweet fruit, such as peaches and nectarines. Or - as in this burrata salad recipe - with fresh herbs, green vegetables and a touch of caramel sweetness from juicy soft dates. In any case, important for the final touch: ground pepper and a good olive oil.
Burrata salad with lots of fresh greens!
The main role in our burrata salad is not played by tomatoes, peaches or nectarines: in this burrata salad recipe we combine the creamy cream cheese with the sweet greens of broad beans and peas, and a lot of flavorful herbs. We use a wild mix of dill, cilantro, parsley, fennel weed, pimpinelle and basil for this. The herbs here can be varied at will, depending on your preferences and availability. If you have the luxury of your own (herb) garden, the most suitable herbs are of course those that are growing there at the moment.
Dates also come back into play in our herbal salad with burrata: namely, we use our fresh, juicy Wanan organic dates. They provide the sweet and juicy complement to the mild and creamy burrata and fresh herbs. No special dressing is needed - we just use olive oil and a good balsamic. Some crusty toasted bread tastes great with it.
Burrata and mozarella - what's the difference?
Both burrata and mozarella are Italian fresh cheeses made mostly from cow's milk and sometimes from buffalo milk. The most obvious difference between the two visually very similar types of cheese is their consistency: while mozzarella is firm to the slice and thus somewhat more compact, the slightly fatter burrata hides a creamy, soft interior under its casing. The filling of the Burrata consists of mozzarella plucked into threads and cream. A good burrata, therefore, much like a perfectly poached egg, should slowly melt over the burrata salad when cut open. Flavor-wise, burrata is even more buttery, mild and milky compared to mozzarella.
Burrata is a bit harder to find than mozzarella, which has become indispensable from refrigerated shelves due to its use in tomato mozzarella salad and on fresh pizza. In this recipe, however, mozzarella cheese is actually only partially suitable as a stand-in for burrata, as the wonderful creaminess of this summer dish would otherwise be lost.
Dates for the summer burrata salad
When choosing dates for the recipe, we opted for the creamy soft wanan. It matches the consistency of the burrata ball and its mild, cinnamony sweetness tastes wonderful with the milky flavor of the burrata. If you don't have fresh Wanan dates on hand, you can of course use another variety. Our varieties Mactoumi, Fankha and Medjool Super Fresh are also very suitable. In any case, it is recommended to choose a date with creamy, soft flesh, so that the sweetness is distributed evenly.
Ingredients for the salad with burrata, broad beans, peas, dates and herbs
for 6 people
- 225 g split fresh peas (about 1.5 kg pods), alternatively frozen peas
- 225 g of split broad beans (about 1.9 kg of pods), alternatively frozen
- 2 cloves of garlic
- juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon acacia honey
- 8 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots
- 2 slices of sourdough bread
- salt and black pepper from the mill
- 8 very fresh dates, e.g. wanan
- 2 handfuls of herbs of your choice (e.g. dill, coriander, parsley, fennel herb, pimpinelle, basil)
- 4 tablespoons of good quality light balsamic vinegar
- 6 scoops of burrata
Burrata preparation: salad with fresh greens and juicy dates
- Remove peas and bean seeds from pods and blanch them for 2-3 minutes in salted boiling water. Quench until ice cold, then drain. Loosen the bean seeds from the pods. Mix in a bowl with a dressing of finely grated or pressed garlic, lemon juice, honey and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Peel the shallots and cut them into fine rings. Leave to soak in a little ice-cold water for about 30 minutes. Cut the bread into coarse pieces, mix in 2-3 tablespoons of oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 180 °C until golden brown. Alternatively, you can prepare the crôutons in a pan.
- Pit the dates and finely chop them. Wash the herbs, dab dry and pluck the leaves into pieces or chop coarsely. Place both in a small bowl with the shallots and drizzle with a simple dressing of balsamic vinegar and a few more tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place the burrata cheese balls on prepared plates and arrange the pea and bean vegetables around or on top of them, along with croutons and date and herb salad. Add a few last drops of olive oil over the burrata salad and serve.
