Truffled Burrata and Pumpkin Seed Oil Salad

Truffle Burrata and Pumpkin Seed Oil Salad

Truffled Burrata and Pumpkin Seed Oil Salad

This saved me during a ridiculous heat wave where I live. I literally had no appetite but for some reason, a cold burrata salad sounded great. I normally don’t eat a lot of cheese but the subtleness and creamy texture of the burrata, with addition of truffle essence, was appealing to me. I used what was in my refrigerator to make the rest of the dish. When thinking about a particular ingredients, in this case it’s burrata, try and create the rest of it with what you have in your fridge.
Serves 2
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients
  

  • 2 large balls fresh Truffle Burrata (most higher end markets have this)
  • 1 each medium sized green and yellow zucchini, sliced ¾ inch thick
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red bell pepper, roasted on an open flame, then cut into ½-inch thick julienne slices
  • 1 Poblano chili, roasted over the fire, peeled, seeded and julienned
  • 1 large yellow heirloom tomato, sliced thinly and cut in half(total of 3 slices each)
  • 1 box watercress, cut leaves at the top
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 juicy lemon, cut in half
  • 2 Tbsp toasted pumpkin seed oil, you can find online
  • ¼ cup toasted pumpkin seeds, otherwise known as pepitas (see note*)
  • Pink salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place your sliced zucchini on a sheet pan with sides. Drizzle with olive oil and the thyme and season with pink salt and black pepper to taste. Roast for 10-12 minutes and set aside on a plate. If you like your vegetables al dente, roast for 7-9 minutes.
  • On an open flame, blacken the skin of the Poblano chili and the red bell pepper. Cool for 5 minutes. Rinse the char off the skin of the pepper and chili with cold water, then remove the tops and open the chili and pepper, running the water inside to remove the seeds. Julienne and set aside on a plate.

Presentation-

  • Slice your tomatoes and place 3 slices on 2 large dinner plates of to one side of the plate.
    Add a small handful of watercress, placing it next to the tomatoes. Pop your burrata’s open and squeeze the burrata onto each plate, spreading the creamy cheese like in my photo with a spoon on the opposite side of the plate from the tomatoes. Drizzle with 1 tsp of pumpkin seed oil, pink salt and black pepper to taste on top of the burrata. Top each plate with ½ the chilis and arrange zucchinis and red pepper how you like, or copy my design, off to the side and the top of the burrata. Drizzle with more pumpkin seed oil and the juice of half a lemon on each salad and top with the pepitas, pinches of pink salad and black pepper.

*Note-

  • if you can’t find pepitas, buy raw pumpkin seeds and toast them in a saute pan with 1 teaspoon olive oil on medium to high heat, tossing often until they pop a little and are lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes. Season with pink salt.