Burrata with pesto with anchovies🤤🤤 

Burrata is a buffalo dairy product that looks like a ball of mozzarella fior di latte, but of its consistency it has only the outer skin, while inside it is all very creamy. It was born, in fact, and not too long ago, in 1956, from the need of the Bianchino dairy in Andria to dispose of a surplus production of cream left due to an exceptional period of frost and snow that had blocked a lot of milk remained unsold and to be transformed immediately so as not to throw it away. The base of the burrata is in fact the spun paste of mozzarella fior di latte modeled like a bag of a few millimeters thick in which the stracciatella is inserted (small fragments torn by hand of mozzarella paste, cream, whey graft) and which is then closed with a tie like a provolone to hang, then immersed in the service liquid. It has achieved success precisely because, when drained, cut and opened, it allows the creamy filling to come out.

Fresh burrata can be combined with many other delicacies, such as a Neapolitan pizza, a pasta with basil pesto, a tomato salad, a saucer of salted anchovy fillets in oil and has become very fashionable today for its softness. Unlike mozzarella, which is already a cheese, this dairy product should be consumed much fresher, at most within two days of purchase. Guests can be amazed by serving it with parsley pesto and salted anchovy fillets on slices of tomato over slices of sliced and toasted homemade bread. Pesto, anchovies and bread can be prepared in advance and expect to assemble them with burrata and sliced tomatoes when serving.

Ingredients 

500 g of large anchovies in salt

1 glass of white or red vinegar to taste 8 cups of fresh

parsley leaves 1 cup pine nuts 1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese 1 cup grated Parmesan

cheese

2 garlic cloves, finely

chopped 6 tablespoons of water

salt to taste

1 chili pepper

1 cup extra virgin olive

oil extra virgin olive oil to taste to cover the anchovies 

2 tomatoes in thin slices 

4 large slices of homemade bread

4 burrata of 100/125 g each

Preparation of anchovies (the day before)

Remove the excess salt from the anchovies on the back of a knife and place them next to each other in a bowl. Pour 1 glass of vinegar over it to cover them and let them rest for an hour in order to make them soften and allow the remaining salt to dissolve. While the anchovies rest, prepare the pesto. Wash the parsley and dry it well leaf by leaf. Peel the garlic cloves and chop finely chopped with a knife with parsley, pine nuts and, if you like, chilli. Pour the chopped mixture into a bowl. Add the grated cheeses, dilute it with the oil added with 6 tablespoons of water to obtain a fluid but thick sauce and, stirring well, adjust the salt. Put the pesto in a blender or food processor and mix until smooth. At this point the rest time of the anchovies will have passed, then remove them from the soaking liquid and diliscatele, reducing them to fillets that you will gradually put in a colander to eliminate excess water. Dry them with a clean white cloth and place them in a bowl next to each other, then cover them with a layer of pesto. If the bowl is not large, make alternating layers, one of anchovy fillets and the other of pesto until the ingredients are exhausted. If necessary, use more oil to completely cover both the pesto and the anchovies. Cover the bowl with polyethylene or aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator for at least a day, but if you have patience to wait know that the flavor improves day by day. Composition of the dish at the time of serving. Remove the anchovies from the refrigerator in time not to serve them cold. Soften the slices of toasted bread a little by immersing them (but only for a moment!) in a little water. Place them on serving plates and drizzle with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of dry white wine. Spread them evenly with a light layer of pesto taken from the bowl with anchovies. Place pieces of anchovy fillets, then thin tomato slices and a burrata for each that must be opened with a knife. Spread a little pesto over the burrata and spread (also cross-shaped) a couple of anchovy fillets. Garnish the plates with drops of pesto and the remaining anchovy fillets, in small pieces.

APULIAN CAVATELLI WITH BURRATA CREAM WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND BASIL

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE

For the Apulian cavatelli

125 gr Flour 

125 gr Re-milled semolina flour

1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

2 teaspoons of salt

130 ml Water

For the burrata cream

200 gr of burrata

200 gr of dried tomatoes 

8 leaves of fresh basil 

20 gr of pine nuts

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

Salt to taste

PROCEDURE FOR THE PREPARATION OF CAVATELLI

For the dough of the cavatelli, mix the two flours in a bowl and transfer them to a pastry board, forming the classic fountain in the center. Add the water little by little. Finally, add the extra virgin olive oil and knead until you get a very smooth and soft dough to give a round shape. Wrap the semolina dough in plastic wrap and let stand for 10-15 minutes so that the dough becomes well elastic. After this time, take one piece of dough at a time and with it form a tube not too thin. Divide the dough tubes into chunks about 1 cm wide. At this point it is possible to form the cavatelli: exerting a slight pressure, dig the cavatello inside, curling the edges a little. Place the cavatelli on a tray and sprinkle with semolina. It is possible to cook the cavatelli immediately, but it is advisable to let them dry for a couple of hours on a pastry board (or in the fridge) so that they have a more robust consistency during cooking.

PREPARATION BURRATA CREAM

Separate the burrata filling from the outer casing. Blend with the mixer the burrata filling with basil, chopped dried tomatoes, pine nuts and a little salt and oil.

PRESENTATION OF THE DISH

Cook the cavatelli in boiling water for about 7-8 minutes. Just after cooking, mix the burrata cream with the cavatelli. If desired, serve with grated cacioricotta.