Test Kitchen

Charcuteri, Burrata and Crostini

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The Greeks in my family loved a good Sunday of family and feasting.  Uncle George and Aunt Sophie would host many of the special occasions and he had his own deli slicer at the house for the cured meats and cheeses he would serve.  All the kids would circle when he started to slice away. Many years ago, I was overseas and saw this red beast and 5 years later I finally decided to get it for a kitchen renovation.  The slicer has passed generations and is in the good hands of my cousin Irene who reports it still works to this day.   Opa!

After a summer of tomatoes and burrata what do you do?  Replace the tomatoes with freshly sliced prosciutto and crostini toasts.  It’s a well received,  hearty and cold weather starter for any dinner or cocktail party.  If you seriously think people want to head over to your house for a party and be greeted with a platter of crudités, think again.

Ingredients

  • 2-3 chunks of creamy burrata from a specialty cheese shop or gourmet section of your market.  The mass produced burrata never turns out to be that good
  • 1 baguette from a bakery shop or a gourmet grocery store (you don’t want a soggy loaf of bread just shaped like a baguette)
  • Aged balsamic vinegar
  • 1 pound of freshly and thinly sliced prosciutto
  • Fresh basil
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Pepper

The Tools

  • Half baking sheet
  • Deli slicer Kidding
  • Seving platter

Making It

  • Make the crostini
  • Bring the burrata to room temperaure
  • Chop the basil in 1 centimeter squares, many say to chiffon the basil but long stips of an herb in front of others can be problematic during a conversation.  Do you really want to be remembered as the person with a green strip hanging out of your mouth?

Time to Cook

  • Place the proscuitto in the middle of your platter in a way people can easily pull it away and not pull three other slices with it.
  • Stack the 2-3 chunks of burrata down the middle, poke your finger through the top, pour in the balsimic and let some drip down the sides
  • Surround with the crostini

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