Heritage Tomatoes with Burrata by Hélène Darroze at The Connaught
Cook at Home
The British tomato season runs from June to October so very soon it will be the perfect time to try out this gorgeous recipe from Hélène Darroze – and for those unfamiliar with this ingredient, Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream
“Each day, Hélène selects the very best and freshest ingredients from the network of suppliers she has spent a lifetime gathering, and cooks them with precision, honesty and passion. The resulting menu celebrates the tastes and textures of the most stunning individual produce, prepared in a way that allows each ingredient to shine.”
Serves
10
Prep Time
60 mins
Cooking Time
10 mins
Ingredients
- 500g of burrata (2 large)
- Greek olive oil
- 2 large green copia tomatoes
- 2 large pineapple tomatoes
- 2 large bull’s heart tomatoes
- 1 large Black Krim tomato
- puff pastry, enough for 10 14cm x 1.5cm sticks
For the marinade
- 80ml Greek olive oil
- 20ml Xerez vinegar
- 1 large shallot
- 12 leaves of green basil
- fleur de sel
- Espelette pepper
For the tapenade
- 200g Taggiasca olives, blanched
- 40g hard-boiled egg yolks (approximately 2 yolks)
- 40g anchovies
- 30g capers
- the lemon zest from half a lemon
- 5g garlic
- 3g parsley
For the garnish
- baby Mexican tarragon
- baby red basil
- mixed flower petals: cornflowers, verbena, marigold, blue borage etc
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
To prepare the burrata
- Remove the skin from the burrata and keep the inside (stracciatella), if the pieces are big chop them a little with a knife. Mix this with a little olive oil.
To make the marinade
- Thinly slice the shallots and tear up the basil leaves.
- Mix all of the ingredients together with a generous pinch of fleur de sel and Espelette pepper.
To prepare the tomatoes
- Cut the tomatoes into wedges or slices, as desired to obtain approximately 10 pieces of each tomato variety.
- Arrange the tomatoes in one layer on a tray and cover with the marinade, leave these to infuse for at least 1 hour at room temperature.
To make the tapenade
- Blend all of the ingredients apart from the parsley.
- Chop the parsley by hand and mix this into the blended mixture.
To make the puff pastry
- Cut the puff pastry into 10 sticks measuring 14cm x 1.5cm.
- Arrange these in a tray lined with a sheet of baking paper both underneath and on top.
- Place another tray on top, this should be lightly resting and not pressing down heavily, and then bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven.
To finish
- Remove the excess marinade from the tomatoes and place a piece of each tomato onto the plate, try to achieve some height.
- Put a line of tapenade on the puff pastry and cover with the herbs and flowers, do this at the last minute so the pastry stays crispy.
- Serve with a spoonful of burrata on the side to spoon over the tomatoes.
Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, Carlos Place, Mayfair, London W1J 2AL
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