Artichoke and Prosciutto Salad

Artichokes, prosciutto, olives, basil...and OK, even tomatoes...what's not to love?  I am not a huge fan of tomatoes that are not made into a salsa or pasta sauce, but even threw some cherry tomatoes into this salad for myself.  Quartered of course, not whole. The beauty of this salad is that you could also skewer most of the ingredients and make an appetizer out of it.  I made something similar in my guest post for Popsiculture on Hosting a Tapas Party with the skewer of basil, avocado, Kalamata olive, and artichoke heart.

This is a super easy dish - perfect for lunch or even as a first course at a dinner party.  i was inspired by a recipe I found in a cookbook that I have owned for years called "Classic Italian Recipes" - I think it was one of those Costco finds, all I know is that I have used it for years!   I added a few pieces of burrata to the salad as well, I couldn't resist.

Artichoke and Prosciutto Salad
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from "Classic Italian Recipes"

12 oz marinated bottle of quartered artichokes, drained
10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup halved Kalamata olives
8 thin slices of prosciutto, cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, julienned
4 oz burrata, cut into bite sized pieces
fresh basil sprigs, to garnish

Dressing
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons course ground Dijon mustard
salt & pepper, to taste

Combine the artichokes, tomatoes, olives, and prosciutto in a mixing bowl.  Toss gently to combine.

To make the dressing, put all of the ingredients into a screw-top jar and shake vigorously until the ingredients are thoroughly blended.

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss together.

Transfer the salad to individual plates, sprinkle the torn basil on top, add the pieces of burrata to each plate, and garnish each with basil sprigs.  Serve immediately.

Cheesy Burrata Pasta Bake

If you have followed me for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Burrata cheese.  Don't know what that is?  You can read my post, "Burrata: 101 - What Is This Cheese All About?" here.  I was SUPER excited to find some at my local Safeway earlier this week - I made this Cheesy Burrata Pasta Bake that night for dinner!

What's even better is that I had this jar of Home Grown Garden Tomatoes Puréed with Garlic and Herbs from Leisure Cooking as a base for my sauce. I then puréed the contents of a 28 oz. can of San Marzano Tomatoes, added the base, and then cooked down a bit prior to using it as my sauce. It was delicious. What's extra cool about this? My brother Scott, of Leisure Cooking, grew the tomatoes for the base in his garden that he maintains in memory of our dad.

  If you are your local Safeway, look in the specialty cheese bin for the Burrata - it will look like this:

Once this dish was ready, I paired it with some sautéed squash and an arugula salad topped with shaved Parmesan and Extra Virgin Olive Oil and White Balsamic Vinegar from the Queen Creek Olive Mill - added a little salt and pepper, perfecto!

Cheesy Burrata Pasta Bake
Serves 4

2 links sweet Italian turkey sausage
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups of dry shell pasta
4 oz. Burrata cheese, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 tablespoon butter
1 - 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, remove sausage from casings and cook in a sauté pan over medium heat, crumbling as you go, until browned. Drain on a paper towel.

Add the bell peppers, garlic, and salt/pepper (to taste) to the sauté pan (add extra-virgin olive oil if pan is dry).  Sauté for 5-7 minutes.

Once the pasta is done, drain and rinse with cold water.  In a large bowl, combine the sausage, bell pepper mixture, pasta, sauce, and cheese - mix gently.  I used less sauce because my boys aren't fans of too much sauce - add more if you'd like!  Grease the bottom and sides of a baking dish with butter and add the pasta mixture.  Top with bread crumbs.

Bake 10-15 minutes until heated all of the way through and the cheese has melted.  Serve with Parmesan to top.

Note:  You can prepare this ahead of time, but either put in oven while it pre-heats or allow for longer time in the oven.

Burrata Sandwich with Prosciutto and Basil

I am slowly but surely getting the blog caught up on the Burrata dishes I made last month!  This is a super easy sandwich and can really be made with anything - but I tried to keep it simple  Feel free to pile on your favorite ingredients - just don't forget a couple of slices of Burrata! I paired this sandwich with a small arugula salad tossed with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Burata Sandwich with Prosciutto and Basil
Serves 1

2 slices of good artisan bread (I used the Kalamata Olive Bread I had leftover from the Bruschetta I made)
2 slices of Burrata 
Few slices of prosciutto
Basil leaves
Pepper
Olive Oil
White Balsamic Vinegar

On the base of one of the slices of bread, add the Burrata , sliced prosciutto, and basil leaves.  Top with pepper along with a few dashes of olive oil and white balsamic vinegar.  Add the second slice of bread, slice in half and enjoy!

Bruschetta with Tomatoes, Arugula, and Burrata

As you may know, I recently purchased some Burrata, made a few different dishes with it, and now I am here to share the recipes and photos!

I put together this appetizer, fully knowing that I am not a huge fan of tomatoes - but - I need to start eating more foods that I don't usually eat, so added them to the dish.  Guess what?  I enjoyed them.

Any baguette type of bread will do, but Safeway had this Artisan Kalamata Olive Bread that looked delicious, so I tried it - and loved it!

This would also be good with a slice of fresh mozzarella instead of the burrata - I hope you'll try it and share back with me your thoughts!

Bruschetta with Tomatoes, Arugula, and Burrata
Serves 6-8 as an appetizer

1 loaf of baguette style bread - the kalamata olive loaf I used was wide, so cut the pieces in half
8 ounces of Burrata, sliced (one slice for each piece of bread)
Small bunch of arugula - stems removed
4 ounces of cherry tomatoes, sliced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar - for drizzling

Arrange the slices of bread on a large serving platter.  Layer the ingredients on the slices of bread with the Burrata first, then 1-2 leaves of arugula, then 3-4 slices of the cherry tomatoes.  Drizzle each piece with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Serve immediately.

Romaine Salad with Burrata Cheese

As you may remember, I decided to purchase some Burrata - you can read all about what that is in my Burrata: 101 - What is This Cheese All About? post.  I made several dishes and I will be sharing the recipes over the next few weeks.

This first one is a salad.  I eat salads daily - typically one as my lunch and then we almost always serve one with our family dinner. Obviously salads are easy to make and change to what you like to have in them. I included here some of the ingredients I enjoy in my salads - including a little Burrata.

Romaine Salad with Burrata Cheese
Serves 4 as a side salad

10-12 oz of Romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
3-4 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
20-24 Kalamata olives, whole (and ideally without pits!)
1/2 cup chopped almonds
Salt and Pepper, to taste
8 oz Burrata cheese (two 4-oz balls), roughly cut into pieces
Good olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Combine the Romaine, radishes, red onions, Kalamata olives, and chopped almonds in a large bowl and toss well.

Add the Burrata cheese along with the salt and pepper.

I don't have amounts of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar because I think it varies by person.  I typically add the oil and vinegar as a 1:1 ratio - adding enough to coat the leaves.  It's important, in my opinion, to use really good olive oil and vinegar when adding it to a salad.  I chose Balanced EVOO and Aged Balsamic Vinegar both from a producer local to Arizona, Queen Creek Olive Mill.

Gently toss the salad and serve immediately.

Burrata: 101 - What is This Cheese All About?

I recently purchased some Burrata to make some dishes and share ideas on ways you can use it too!

First - let's spend some time learning about what this cheese really is, starting with the pronunciation.  "Boo-rata" is the correct way and do you know what is even better?  You get to ROLL the "Rs" in it!  Fun, right?  You can go here and click on the play button to hear it pronounced.

What else is Burrata?  I'll share specific details on how it's made from online sources, but in a nutshell, Burrata is kind of like Ricotta Cheese INSIDE of a shell of Mozzarella Cheese that is formed into a ball  How awesome is that?

So how is it made?  This is a straight up copy/paste from Wikipedia

Burrata starts out much like mozzarella and many other cheeses, with rennet used to curdle the warm milk. But then, unlike other cheeses, fresh mozzarella curds are plunged into hot whey or lightly salted water, kneaded, and pulled to develop the familiar stretchy strings (pasta filata), then shaped in whatever form is desired.

When making burrata, the still-hot cheese is formed into a pouch, which is then filled with scraps of leftover mozzarella and topped off with freshcream before closing. The finished burrata is traditionally wrapped in the leaves of asphodel, tied to form a little brioche-like topknot, and moistened with a little whey. The asphodel leaves should still be green when the cheese is served to indicate the cheese's freshness.^[3] More recently, the cheese is often sold in a plastic bag or container.

When you slice open this delicious-ness, a creamy, rich, yummy center is inside!  

The burrata I purchased was by BelGioioso, if you go to their site, you can find out more about burrata, serving suggestions, recipes, etc. I purchased two 16 oz containers that had four (4 oz) balls in them each.  Everyday grocery stores don't typically carry this.  It can be purchased from specialty markets, cheese shops, or even ask your favorite Italian restaurant owner if he/she can get some for you - that's what I did!  

If you are in the Denver area, you can call my cousin Dino at Valente's Deli to place an order.  Give him 3-4 days to get it for you and when you pick it up, it will give you the perfect excuse to enjoy a homemade canoli for lunch!  Make sure you tell him that The Bubbly Hostess says hello!

There are so many recipes and uses for Burrata - appetizers, pasta dishes, vegetarian dishes, desserts - endless possibilities!  I will share just a sampling of ideas over the next few weeks...until, practicing rolling your "Rs" and saying BURRATA!