Burrata with Peaches & Hot Honey
A torn ball of burrata collapsing over ripe fruit with a chili-honey drizzle is the highest ratio of "how did you do that" to actual effort that exists in food. You placed five things on a plate. The fruit and the cheese did everything else.
- Cost for two
- $16
- Active time
- 8 min
- Done ahead
- 100%
- 45 min before 7:30
- Hands off at
- 7:20
- T-10
Allergens: Milk (burrata) · Wheat (bread)·Serves: 2 as a starter·Oven: none (optional 5 min for bread)
Gear: One nice plate — the widest, flattest one you own. A knife. Paper towels. That is it.
Start at 5:30. Hands off from 7:20. Stove mode follows the clock while you cook.
The 7:30 Timeline
Read it bottom-up if you like; cook it top-down.
Done before she arrives
Aisle order
Shopping list
Produce
Ripe peaches
they should give slightly when pressed at the top; if they are rock hard, see swaps
2
Fresh basil
1 clamshell
Dairy & Cheese
Burrata
8 oz, two balls; specialty-cheese case
1 container
Bakery
Baguette or small ciabatta
1
Pantry & Canned
Hot honey
Mike's Hot Honey is in every Safeway; near the honey or the condiments
1 bottle
Flaky sea salt
Maldon; spice aisle
1 box
Pantry (you probably have these)
Olive oil
At the stove
Method
- 1
Take the burrata out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving, still in its container.
- 2
Cut around each peach along the seam, twist the halves in opposite directions, and pull out the pit. If it will not let go, cut the flesh off the pit in chunks — irregular pieces look fine.
- 3
Cut each half into 4 wedges. Leave the skin on.
- 4
Arrange the wedges on the plate around the edge, some overlapping, leaving the center clear.
- 5
Slice the bread ½ inch thick. Lay on a tray, drizzle with oil, and toast at 400°F for 5 minutes if you want it warm; or serve it untoasted.
- 6
Just before serving, open the burrata and lift the balls out with your hand over the sink so the water drains away. Pat the outside dry with a paper towel.
- 7
Set the burrata in the center of the plate. Tear each ball open with your thumbs so the creamy inside spills onto the fruit.
- 8
Drizzle hot honey in a thin line back and forth over the cheese and fruit. Less than you think; you can add more at the table.
- 9
A pinch of flaky salt over the cheese. Tear basil leaves over the top. A thin drizzle of olive oil. Serve with the bread.
Is it done?
The check that needs no experience
There is no cooking. Burrata is ready when it is soft enough that your thumb dents it easily. Peaches are ready if they smell like peaches when you hold one to your nose; if they smell like nothing, see the recovery.
The #1 way to screw it up
The peaches are hard and taste of nothing, because it is the wrong month or the store had bad ones.
Recovery
Slice them as thin as you can — a hard peach cut thin is crunchy and pleasant, and the hot honey does the flavor work. Or swap on the spot: a jar of roasted red peppers, drained and torn, is in the same aisle as the honey and makes a version many people prefer. Don't serve a mealy peach; anything else on the swap list is better.
- Burrata water pooled on the plate and everything is sitting in a puddle
- tilt the plate over the sink for a second, then blot the edge with a paper towel. Nobody will know.
- You forgot to take the burrata out and it is fridge-cold at 7:40
- run the sealed container under warm tap water for 3 minutes. Good enough.
The reveal
Plating
Use the widest, flattest plate you own — white or a dark matte one — and put the fruit around the outside first so the plate already looks full before the cheese arrives. Set the burrata dead center and tear it open so the cream runs into the fruit; the tear is the drama, so do not slice it neatly. Drizzle the hot honey last, in one thin zigzag across the whole plate, and finish with salt, basil, and oil so that every wedge has something on it.
Vegetarian swap
Vegetarian as written. ASSUMPTION: BelGioioso burrata uses microbial rennet; check the label if it matters to her. To add meat: two slices of prosciutto torn and draped over the fruit before the cheese goes on.
What to pour
- Wine
- Prosecco, cold — La Marca, about $14. The bubbles and the chili are a good pair.
- Beer
- a witbier — Allagash White or Blue Moon with an orange slice.
- No alcohol
- The 7:29 (see the-730-spritz), or sparkling water with a peach wedge dropped in.
Take this to the supermarket.
The First Bulletproof Dinner as a PDF, with the timelines. Free.