After spending an oozingly satisfying morning making burrata from scratch, I knew I had to have a superlative plan for serving it later that night.  The whole crew who came along for the burrata adventure was going to be there, and I wanted them to experience the efforts of their toils in a way they would not soon forget.  The task was compounded in difficulty by the fact that I was pretty insistent upon doing multiple courses with different variations of the burrata.  I was hoping to make each course unique enough that every time someone experienced that gushing burst of burrata bliss it would be just as good as the first.  This post deals with two of those courses- both succulent enough to inspire salivation in the most sated soul. 

We started with burrata in white nectarines with a fava bean puree because it’s refreshing, light (even with the burrata!) and the nectarines act as a great amuse bouche opening the palate to further pleasures.  I’ve served many variations on this fairly classic presentation of burrata, though normally I opt for apricots.  They were not in season at the market, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The nectarines had the added benefit of intensified sweetness to counterbalance the fava as well as a larger depression where their pits used to be, allowing me to cram in a perfectly plump dollop of burrata.  In the past, I had always oscillated between balsamic drizzle and mint simple syrup when dressing this dish, but this time I decided to go for broke and try both.  I wanted to be sure that each would have a different texture, so I upped the ante with the mint simple syrup and continued it to the point of caramelization.  That way, I could crumble the mint and drizzle the balsamic, and trust me, everyone was very happy. 

The more daunting project of the afternoon was pulling a random idea out of my head for stuffing burrata into sheeted pasta and bringing it all together.  I was lucky to have the assistance of my good friend Deanna for this course, because cuscini don’t exactly make themselves.  Cuscini is the moniker we came up with once we saw what shape our pasta had taken- they looked just like delicate little Italian pillows.  I had originally intended on a form closer to the Piedmontese agnolotti, but it became apparent that the texture of the burrata filling would not lend itself to a pasta quite so small. 

My biggest worry in stuffing the cuscini was that the burrata would be so full of liquid it would be difficult to contain within the pasta.  I actually thought for weeks on this, and finally remembered frenzied afternoon lunches with friends at Eataly; the only way to ensure that you got your fair share of burrata was to arm yourself with a fat slice of bread to lap up the juices once the ball was placed upon the bar for all to have a go.  I went with my hunch that breadcrumbs would do the same thing inside the pouches, and it worked like a charm.  My husband had major trepidation with me adulterating the simple goodness of burrata by annihilating its awesome form and tearing it to bits as a stuffing, but one bite shut his trap permanently- well, except to chew! 

The actual process of rolling and stuffing the cuscini took a fair amount of time, so naturally Deanna and I indulged in a bit of wine to get us through.  Because I didn’t want to pulverize the burrata completely beyond recognition, I tore it a fair amount but left some particles decent sized.  I’m glad I did because when you bit into the pasta the larger pieces gave it a silky texture not at all reminiscent of the sometimes gritty ricotta-filled ravioli.  The slightly larger pieces also caused our stuffing pockets to require about an inch of space, thus making our entire rectangle of pasta close to 2” long when it was all said and done- hence calling them “Pillows.” 

I went back and forth on a sauce for my little bedtime bundles; too creamy would take away from the cheesy interior, but call me crazy, I’ve never been a huge fan of burrata with tomato, so a red sauce was out of the question for me.  In the end, I decided to incorporate peas and prosciutto so that they would be the stars of the sauce- the white wine reduction and bit of cream thrown in for good measure merely provided some sleekness.  The sauce turned out to be just the right thing to accent the subtle flavor of the burrata; not one thing in the dish screamed “look at me,” rather they all worked together to reduce us diners to stunned silence.  It’s a good thing the Bach Cello Suites were doing a nice job keeping our ears entertained, as there was a good few minutes when all anyone did was chew and swallow- and this from a group of carousing partiers. 

I urge you to host your own burrata bash presto, if it’s anywhere near as successful as ours, you’ll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner.  Both recipes follow the post, so scroll down for the burrata and nectarines. 

Burrata Cuscini con Prosciutto e Piselli:  Burrata Pillows with Prosciutto and Peas

Serves 4-6

For the pasta:

• 11 egg yolks
• 12 oz semolina flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• Water as needed
• All purpose flour as needed for kneading

For the burrata filling:

• 1 roughly 15 oz ball of burrata
• ½ cup breadcrumbs from 2 slices of potato bread, crusts removed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¾ c Parmigiano Reggiano grated
• ½ tsp Trapani sea salt, crushed
• ¼ c fresh basil leaves chopped fine

For the prosciutto sauce

• 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot julienned
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/3 lb prosciutto separated and chopped into 1/2” squares
• ½ c white wine
• 16 oz frozen peas (Cascadian farm are great)
• 1.5 c heavy cream
• Trapani sea salt and pepper to taste
• ½ c Parmigiano Reggiano
• Chiffonaded basil for garnish

1.  Put the semolina, egg yolks, oil and salt into a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.  Mix on low speed until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add a little water and continue to mix until dough starts to come together.  Turn out onto a very large, floured surface.  Knead until dough becomes a malleable ball- not too dry, but not overly sticky either.  Cover with a tea towel and let rest while making the filling.
2. In a medium bowl, mix all filling ingredients together and set aside until ready to fill the pasta sheets.
3. To roll out pasta sheets, divide dough into six small, manageable balls and shape each ball into a rectangle.  Roll the pasta sheet out retaining the rectangular shape.  The width of the sheet should end up around 3-4”.  The length will depend on the size of dough ball you started with, but you should strive to roll out the dough as thin as possible without tearing it, as well as keeping an evenly sided and straight rectangle.  Repeat with remaining dough balls, covering each sheet once it’s rolled with a lightly misted tea towel so that it retains its moisture and doesn’t dry out to the point of cracking once you stuff it with filling.  Once all your sheets are rolled, it’s time to begin filling.
4. Prior to filling the pasta sheets, I highly recommend watching this short video for hints on technique.  Essentially, you want to use a teaspoon to drop dollops of filling equally spaced about 1.5” apart down the middle of the pasta sheet.  Because my dough often dries a bit while I’m rolling out my sheets, at this point I use a pastry brush to brush along the bottom edge of the sheet, in between each of the dollops, and along the top part of the sheet where the bottom will be rolled up and sealed.  Working carefully and quickly, roll the bottom of the pasta sheet over the dollops and seal it with your fingertips near the top of the pasta sheet.  Do not go all the way to the top of the sheet; rather leave a little lip that you will eventually trim off like in the video recommended at the beginning of this step.  Pinch the cuscini closed between each dollop, pinch the ends closed, and using either a pasta cutter (if you want the fluted edge) or a pizza cutter (if you want a straight edge, which I prefer), trim off the upper edge excess as well as cutting between each cuscino.  Do a final check to make sure all edges are sealed, and place on a sheet pan lined with parchment and floured while you make the rest of the cuscini.  Once you have formed all of your pasta, cover the sheet pan with a tea towel and set aside for up to one hour at room temperature.  If you need more time, cover the cuscini and put them in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours. 
5. Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to boil.  Oil and salt the water.  Cook cuscini in batches- 10-12 at a time, or as you feel comfortable to manage.  Once cooked, let them rest on an oiled sheet pan set in a 200° oven.
6. Meanwhile, heat butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat.  Add shallot and garlic and sauté until softened, about one minute.  Add prosciutto and sauté for 2 additional minutes, stirring frequently to break up clumps.  Toss in the white wine and stir vigorously until reduced almost completely, about a minute.  Add the peas and cream, turn the heat to low, and cook for four minutes until sauce thickens slightly.  Season with Trapani sea salt and pepper and toss in cuscini. Coat the pasta with the sauce, toss in the Parmigiano, and serve immediately, garnishing each plate with a bit of basil. 

Burrata with White Nectarines, Fava Puree and Caramelized Mint Balsamic Droplets

Serves 6

• 1.5 c fresh mint leaves washed
• ½ c sugar
• ½ c water
• 1 lb fava beans boiled and shelled
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• 3 white nectarines
• 1- 15 oz ball of burrata
• Few drops balsamic vinegar for garnish
• 6 mint sprigs for garnish

1.  Boil ¼ c sugar with ¼ c water in small saucepan until slightly reduced. Remove from heat and stir in one cup mint leaves.  Cover saucepan and allow leaves to steep until slightly cooled- about ten minutes.  Meanwhile, chop remaining mint leaves fine.  Once syrup has cooled, strain out steeped mint leaves, add remaining sugar and water, and set over low heat to boil again.  Bring simple syrup to point that it forms large bubbles stirring constantly.  At this point it will feel sticky and start to mass up.  Remove from heat, add chopped mint leaves, and continue to stir until cooled.  The mixture will turn into hard crumbles of caramelized mint. Set aside.
2. Puree fava beans, olive oil, lemon juice and salt in immersion blender.  Place a dollop of fava puree in the center of each of six serving plates.
3. Halve and seed nectarines.  Place each half open-side up on top of fava dollop.
4. Cut the burrata ball into six wedges.  Place each wedge inside each peach where the pit used to be.  It should spill out a bit. 
5. Garnish each plate with some crumbles of caramelized mint, a few drops of balsamic, and a mint sprig.