Skip to main content

Grilled grapes? Who would have thought they could be this good. Ottolenghi Burrata with grilled grapes and basil


Ottolenghi at his best! This is one of those recipes where it’s simplicity belies it’s beauty. 
The combination of the texture of the grilled grapes, the sweet and sharp sherry vinegar dressing and the creamy Burrata is really delicious. 
It also looks fabulous, a perfect easy but impressive starter.
If you can’t get hold of burrata, use buffalo mozzarella instead which will hold together a bit more. This is enough to serve six as a generous first course, or as a light lunch with some crusty bread to mop up the dressing.

Ingredients
300g seedless red grapes
2 tbsp valdespino (or other top-quality sherry) vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1½ tsp soft dark brown sugar
1½ tsp fennel seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
Flaky sea salt and black pepper
12 18cm-long wooden skewers 
3 balls burrata (or buffalo mozzarella; 600g net weight)
6 small sprigs red or green basil, to serve

Method
Put the grapes in a medium bowl with the vinegar, oil, garlic, sugar, a teaspoon of fennel seeds, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. Using your hands, toss to coat, then set aside to marinate for half an hour (or even longer, especially if you want to prepare the grapes ahead of time). Skewer six or seven grapes on to each stick, and reserve the marinade – you’ll need it for serving.
Put a ridged griddle pan on a high heat and ventilate your kitchen. Once the pan is good and hot, grill the grape skewers in batches for two to three minutes in total, turning them over halfway through. Remove from the heat and keep warm while you griddle the remaining skewers.
To serve, tear each ball of burrata in two and put one half on each of six plates. Arrange two grape skewers per portion, so they’re leaning against half-cheeses, then spoon a teaspoon and a half of the reserved marinade over each portion. Sprinkle over the remaining fennel seeds, garnish each plate with a sprig of basil and serve.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast f...
1 comment
Read more

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind...
1 comment
Read more

Freekeh, Chickpea and Herb Salad

Yet another recipe from the excellent NYT food app, this one by  Martha Rose Shulman  I think toasting the Freekeh first makes a significant difference to the taste and texture of the Freekeh which can be a bit chewy for some tastes. This is great as part of a mezzE of different salads with some grilled chicken or fish alongside for the carnivores amongst us. The recipe There is a lot to love about freekeh, an earthy grain that I’d like to see catch on in more kitchens. It cooks up in about 25 minutes, and it’s light, like coarse bulgur, which it resembles, except that the color is darker and greener. But freekeh has a more complex flavor than bulgur. What stands out is its smokiness, a result of the production process, in which durum wheat — the type used for many pastas — is harvested while still green and soft, and carefully roasted in the husk over open fires. The wheat is beaten to remove the chaff, and in the Middle East it is sold whole or cracked. The cracked version i...
Post a Comment
Read more