Burrata as a concept seems too good to be true. Mozzarella is decadent enough: a pillowy, snow-white ball of cheese, clean and milky in flavor and stretchy in texture. But mozzarella filled with cream and shreds of more cheese? To die for.
The pasta filata category of cheeses, to which mozzarella and burrata belong, are deceptively difficult to master. Cow’s or buffalo’s milk curds are plunged into hot or salted water and kneaded into a flexible paste, which is then stretched over and over until it reaches the desired consistency. Too little kneading, and the cheese will run and lose its shape; too much kneading, and you’ll have a dry and brittle lump.
To make burrata, the stretched cheese is formed into a hollow pouch, which is then filled with smaller stretched scraps (stracciatella) and fresh cream, and tied off in a little knot. When sliced open, the filling oozes out, ready to be spread over bread, salad, or fruit. Burrata is best consumed within a day of being made.
The makers at Caputo Cheese have been crafting fine Italian classics in Chicago since 1978, including burrata, ricotta, and hard cheeses inspired by Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino Romano. Following founder Pasquale Caputo’s lead, they continue to stick close to traditional Italian recipes while teasing out the nuances of domestic milk. In this recipe, we’re treating Caputo’s decadent Burrata like ice cream, serving it atop a strawberry galette that tastes like summer in pastry form.
Strawberry Mint Galette with Caputo Cheese Burrata
Ingredients
- Dough
- 1½ cups pastry flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick cold butter
- ⅓ cup ice water
- Filling
- 1 pound fresh strawberries hulled and roughly chopped
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar or to taste
- 3 large sprigs mint
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- Assembly
- ½ pound strawberries sliced
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- ½ tablespoon butter cut into small dabs
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
- 4 to 5 mint leaves
- 1 ball Caputo Cheese Burrata broken up
- Flaky salt
Instructions
- Dough
- ►Pulse flour, sugar, and salt lightly in a food processor, then add butter and process until mixture comes together into pea-sized pieces.
- ►Add water a little at a time until dough just comes together.
- ►Roll dough out into a roughly 14-inch circle, then cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours, and ideally overnight.
- ►Remove dough from refrigerator about 20 minutes before baking.
- Filling
- ►In a saucepan, cook all ingredients over medium-low heat, covered, for about 15 minutes. Remove mint and discard. Simmer remaining mixture, uncovered, until the fruit has completely broken down, about another 30 minutes.
- Assembly
- ►Heat oven to 375°F. Spread filling over dough, leaving 2 inches around the edge. Top with sliced berries. Fold the last two inches of dough up and over the filling, pleating it to help it lay flat. Brush the pleated trim with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Sprinkle butter dabs evenly over sliced strawberries. Bake for 40 minutes.
- ►Remove finished galette from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. To serve, top with mint leaves, burrata, and salt.
