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burrata with crushed cherries and pistachios

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Last summer, a friend came to a barbecue and said, “We had soccer and then a birthday party and I had no time to make anything but I brought this” and started unloading items from a grocery bag. There were no clean cooking utensils so she and I proceeded to use our hands to break open balls of burrata and spread them on a plate, smash open cherries and pit them, sprinkling them over, crushed pistachios with the bottom of a pot, and finished the whole platter with olive oil, lots of sea salt, black pepper, and fresh mint we picked from sprigs. We lined the plate with rounds of storebought crostini, I snapped a picture and later when I shared it, dozens of you messaged me to demand a recipe or tutorial.


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Honestly, I love it when you guys are bossy. Because my brain can be such a drag, telling me that “is this even a real recipe” and “it’s probably been done a million times” and “probably we should just stop with the burrata already” which is a malady one can catch after spending nearly 20 years sending out cooking content on the internet, forgetting that things that can seem “overdone” are, in fact, wildly delicious to people in the real world. And it was. The platter was demolished by a pride of revelers in under 15 minutes.

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And so for a week in which many of us are heading out of town and cooking in unfamiliar kitchens that might lack such creature comforts as (gasp!) a cherry pitter, this no-recipe recipe feels suddenly timely: hands-on, a little messy, but also impossible to mess up. The cherries are fantastic this year; this allows every single one I don’t snack on first to shine.

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burrata with smashed cherries-6

Video

Burrata with Crushed Cherries and Pistachios

Psst: You really don’t need a recipe for this but I’m sharing the proportions I used, loosely. I photographed a small plate of it with just half of everything. You’ll be happier if you make the full amount, listed below! cwdbetSome additional burrata advice: Burrata is at its most nuanced and creamy when it’s been allowed to come to room temperature, or just below. If you can find them, mini balls of burrata (Liuzzi and BelGioso brands sell them) always feel like they stretch further in dishes like this. Can’t find fresh burrata? The next best thing is stracciatella, which is basically the creamy, scrappy inside of a ball of burrata, but it is sometimes even harder to find. My favorite easier swap is a high-quality fresh ricotta, storebought or homemade.

  • 1 pound (455 grams) burrata
  • 1 pound (455 grams) fresh cherries
  • Olive oil
  • 1/3 cup (40 grams) salted, shelled pistachios
  • A sprig of two of fresh mint
  • Flaky sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Crostini for serving
Drain burrata on a paper towel and ideally let it come to room temperature or a little below before using for the maximum creaminess and flavor. Tear burrata into chunks and scatter on a serving platter.Although I have a cherry pitter, I prefer the cherries here crushed or sliced open. To crush them, use the side of a knife or even the bottom of a heavy glass to press the cherry into a cutting board or plate until you can easily remove the pit. Tear the cherry in half and scatter over the burrata. Repeat with remaining cherries. Yes, this makes a mess but a delicious one: pour any accumulated cherry juices over the cherries on the burrata. To slice cherries open, run a paring knife around the cherry, cutting to the center, twist the sides apart, and fish out the pit.

Drizzle cherries and burrata with olive oil.

Either coarsely chop the pistachios or you can use the back of a heavy pan to crush them into irregular pieces. Sprinkle the pistachios over the cherries and burrata, followed by flaky sea salt, grinds of black pepper, and fresh mint. Serve with crostini and watch it vanish.