burrata & fennel salmojero
Other than tequila, I don’t speak a word of Spanish. So salmojero led to bandolero led to this stuck in my head.
Awesome.
Anyway. It’s tomacco season! Salmojero is a total celebration of tomatoes and the raw crunchy fennel, oily basil and creamy burrata complement them awesomely. Vegetarians can just skip the Serrano and add some shaved parmesan. If you want fish instead of meat, totally go for anshovies (as you know, My Heart Will Go on for Anshovies).
ingredients
Serves four:
15g of basil (about 1 cup)
120ml olive oil
2 bulbs of fennel, shaved
1t of toasted fennel seeds
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
4 fresh balls of burrata
3 – 4T capres
Some crunchy bread and coarse salt to serve
Salmojero:
4 ripe tomatoes
1/4th fresh red chilli pepper
2 cloves of garlic
50g white bread
30ml good white wine or sherry vinegar
125 ml olive oil
+ food processor, mandolin
method
Basil oil: Bring a pot of water to a boil (you can add some sodium bicarbonate here to help preserving the green color) and blanch the basil for 10 seconds, rinsing immediately under running cold water in a sieve afterwards. Squeeze all of the water out, transfer to an immersion blender beaker, add 120 ml olive oil and some salt and pepper and mix to a smooth bright green oil.
Salmojero: Mix tomatoes, red pepper, garlic and vinegar to a very smooth liquid. Add the first half of the chunks of bread, mix until smooth and repeat with the second half. Slowly pour in the olive oil and season with a pinch of salt.