Burrata Caprese with Peaches

Burrata Caprese with Peaches is the perfect summer dish. Ripe tomatoes paired with sweet-tart peaches and creamy burrata cheese, then topped with chopped pistachios and a drizzle of basil vinaigrette.

It’s a summer goal of mine to find as many ways as possible to enjoy perfectly ripe tomatoes. I’m happy to eat them simply sliced and sprinkled with sea salt, but they absolutely shine in this Burrata Caprese. And this dish doesn’t stop with just summer tomatoes. I’ve also added sliced peaches for sweetness, pistachios for crunch, and a basil dressing to drizzle over it all. It’s basically the definition of ?.

Now look, you can slice some tomatoes, add some burrata and rip up some fresh basil leaves to garnish and call it a (very delicious) day, but I hope you’ll try my version. It really is still easy enough to make for a filling vegetarian lunch, but is a showstopper of an appetizer should you want to share with others. (But do you?)

How to Make Burrata Caprese

Begin by making the basil dressing. In small food processor, blend together 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 cup packed basil leaves, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt until smooth, scraping down the bowl once or twice as you go.

You may need to tip the processor slightly on its side if there’s not enough liquid to run it upright. You can also put the ingredients in a small bowl with tall sides and use an immersion blender to blend. Or, feel free to just finely chop the basil leaves and then whisk all the ingredients together. 

Next, shell and chop 1/2 cup of pistachios, and set aside.

Slice 2 ripe peaches and 2 large ripe tomatoes into wedges, and lay out on a large platter overlapping slightly.

Either leave burrata intact and place in the middle of the platter, or break up into small chunks and scatter over the peaches and tomatoes. Drizzle with the basil dressing. Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top, then season with cracked black pepper and coarse sea salt. 

Ingredient Notes

• Basil: Fresh basil really makes this dish, though using fresh cilantro instead would give this dish an entirely different (but still delicious) flavor.
• Olive Oil: Using a high quality olive oil will really help this dish shine, so don’t hold back. 
• Peaches: I love to use white peaches for this dish, but you can also use yellow peaches. If you hate peach skin, you can remove it before you slice the peaches. If you don’t have peaches, try nectarines. Or just leave them out for a more classic caprese with just tomatoes. 
• Tomatoes: Choosing ripe, local, farm-grown tomatoes will give you the best flavor for this dish. Unfortunately, tomatoes that are commercially grown are often harvested while they are still green and then artificially ripened with ethylene gas—this is why you can find a delicious looking red tomato in the grocery store in December and find out it tastes like cardboard when you get it home. Use large beefsteak tomatoes for this dish if you can, though you could also try with cherry tomatoes The most important things is that the tomatoes are ripe and tasty!
• Burrata: Obviously it’s not a burrata caprese without burrata, but you could replace it with fresh mozzarella cheese if that’s easier to find. See below for the difference!
• Pistachios: Pistachios add texture and give this dish an appealing crunch. Replace with chopped almonds or hazelnuts for a similar crunch but different flavor. 

What is burrata?

Burrata is a cow-milk or buffalo-milk cheese made with mozzarella and cream. It is a traditionally Italian cheese that originated in the Apulian region. The outside of burrata is made of solid mozzarella cheese, but it has a center of mozzarella shreds mixed with cream. Burrata often has a little topknot where the outside has been pulled together around the filling and tied to close. 

Burrata vs. mozzarella?

Fresh mozzarella and burrata are both delicious in a caprese salad or when used for caprese toasts. The texture of burrata is more luscious, and the cream within it is delicious as it soaks into the fruit and mixes with the basil dressing. But fresh mozzarella could absolutely be used as a substitute ingredient in this dish. 

Can you make Burrata Caprese ahead of time?

You can make this dish 30 minutes in advance, but I wouldn’t recommend making it much more ahead of time. Peaches have a tendency to brown and soften a bit as they sit, and I enjoying having pops of cool burrata cheese among the room temperature peaches and tomatoes as I eat this dish. That said, you can make the basil dressing a few hours in advance. The basil dressing will start to brown if you leave it overnight in the refrigerator, though you can help keep it bright by pressing a sheet of plastic wrap right on top. 

Can I refrigerate this dish?

If you have leftovers of this dish, you can refrigerate it to eat the next day, but it really won’t be the same. Unfortunately, the peaches will brown, and the pistachios will soften. I’d recommend just making what you think you will eat when you serve it—you can easily cut this recipe in half for a half batch, and then make another batch the next day.  

How should you store tomatoes?

For many years, I have sworn that uncut tomatoes should never ever be kept in the refrigerator. And I stand by that guideline, though with one caveat learned from a Serious Eats article: if your tomatoes are at their peak of ripeness, refrigeration is the way to go. The reason is that the optimal temperature to store tomatoes is 55 degrees Fahrenheit—which is a tough temperature to maintain in a house: colder than room temperature but not as cold as the refrigerator. 

So if you purchase or pull from from your garden a tomato that is not quite ripe, then by all means, leave it out at room temperature. It will continue to ripen (thank goodness, as I learned after trying to thwart the squirrels in my garden by picking tomatoes before they were ripe). However, if you have perfectly ripe tomatoes, the fridge might be the best place for them as they will also continue to ripen on the counter (and eventually, rot). If you’re not going to eat them in 1-2 days, you can keep them at their perfect stage of ripeness by putting them in the refrigerator. That said, always take them out about a half hour before you want to eat them so that they can come back to room temperature. Lesson learned. 

Nutritional Value of Tomatoes

Tomatoes are technically a fruit, not a vegetable, and they’re packed with good-for-you vitamins and minerals. Top of the list is lycopene, which is an antioxidant linked to the reduced risk of cancer and heart disease. Tomatoes also include helpful amounts of vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, and potassium—and very few calories or fat. Tomatoes also include beta carotene, which your body converts into vitamin A. 

Other Delicious Summer Recipes

Are you looking for other recipes to show off some of summer’s most delicious vegetables? Here are a few of my favorites:

• Salade de Tomates (Tomato Salad)
• Fig Salad with Blue Cheese
• Red Radish Crostini with Lemon Ricotta
• Green Bean Salad with Baked Goat Cheese
• Black Bean and Corn Salad
• Tomatoes Provencal
• Classic Nicoise Salad
• Summer Orzo Salad
• Caprese Crepes