Okay, so, if there is one food I overdose on it would be tomatoes. I was lucky to go on vacation with a lovely friend and “M” to the south of France. During that vacation we went to a different town everyday and stopped at the local sidewalk cafes for lunch. There would be a chalk board with a list of eight or nine different and amazing lunch salads. My friend and “M” would try a different one each day. Everyday, I would carefully read through the choices – Nicoise Salade, Salade Lyonnaise, Auvergnate, Parisienne, Perigourdine to name a few and everyday I would order a version of a mediterranean tomato salad. The joke was, “Gail , what are you having for lunch a tomato salad?”
Here are two favourite Mediterranean tomato salads I serve, often!
Tomato and Burrata Caprese Stacks
The beautiful thing about these tomato and burrata cheese stacks is that they are stunning, delicious, easy to make and they can be made ahead of time before your guests arrive. Serve them with crunchy fresh bread.
Mediterranean Tomato with Burrata Cheese Salad
Burrata means buttery in Italian and if you compare fresh buffalo mozzarella and burrata cheese – burrata is significantly richer, creamier and so luscious. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using fresh buffalo mozzarella, but treat yourself to a lovely burrata cheese – you won’t believe it!
Burrata is an Italian cow milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella, while the inside contains stracciatella and cream, giving it an lovely, soft texture. It is usually served fresh and at room temperature.
Tomato and Burrata Caprese Stacks
Ingredients
- 4 heirloom tomatoes, organic
- 2 large burrata balls, approximately 2 cups
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil, and some full leaves for garnish
- 3 tablespoons olive oil good quality, extra virgin
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar good quality
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Herb de Provence
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Core the top of each tomato, slice them in four even slices, so that the tomatoes stack back together.
- Gently spoon burrata on each slice and re-stack them.
Prepare Salad Dressing
- In a jar or bowl mix vinegar, mustard, olive oil, some of the chopped basil, herbs and salt and pepper. Stir or shake until emulsified.
Assemble the stacks
- Stack the tomatoes with burrata spread between each slice.
- Spoon salad dressing over the stacked tomatoes and garnish with the remaining basil.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Mediteranean Tomato with Burrata Cheese Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large green heirloom tomatoes, organic
- 2 large yellow heirloom tomatoes, organic
- 4 red tomatoes, organic
- 1 shallot, chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, good quality, extra virgin
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 2 cups burrata cheese good quality, two large balls
- 2 tablespoons basil leaves, chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped finely
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Slice the tomatoes and put them in a serving platter.
- Sprinkle the chopped shallots over the tomatoes.
- Sprinkle a liberal amount of salt on the tomatoes (this allows the juice of the tomatoes to come out and create a wonderful dressing).
- Pour the olive oil and lemon juice over the tomatoes.
- Let the tomatoes sit for at least two hours – put them in the fridge for the last 20 minutes so that they are cold when you serve them.
- Just before serving sprinkle the salad with large pieces of burrata cheese, chopped basil, chopped parsley and pepper to taste.
- Serve!