I don’t eat a lot of cheese but when I do it is usually pecorino, Parmesan or on spesh occasions, burrata. Once you try burrata you wonder why you have never ever had it before because its one of the most delicious things in the world on every level. It’s a soft pillow of creamy, delicately flavoured gorgeousness, a mozzarella which has stepped up its game and become the beautiful twin. It has double cream in the centre of it, so when you break it open with your fingers the middle flows out of it like the sauce escaping from a hot chocolate fondant pudding. Peas are great too, so I married them off to each other and added a simple dressing with lemon. This salad should take minutes to make and makes a great starter or snack…or as a side dish with my midnight spaghetti.

Recipe

Serves 2 or one as a main course.

Ingredients: 

1 lemon juiced
1 or 2 burrata or mozzarella balls
A sprig of mint very finely chopped
A cup of thawed frozen peas (no need to cook)
Crunchy salad leaves (I use red chicory or treviso radicchio)
Salt and pepper to taste
½- 1 teaspoon of maple syrup
2 tablespoons olive oil

How:
To make the dressing, mix the oil and the lemon juice with the maple syrup and the salt and pepper.
Put the salad leaves on a serving plate, then the peas and place the burrata in the middle on top and break open.
Pour the dressing over the cheese and sprinkle with the mint leaves and lemon zest, adding another grinding of pepper.

lastly….I could quite happily eat a burrata just on its own as its so perfect. However, this salad is really delicious with toast, spaghetti, as I mentioned before,  roast chicken or lamb  or any baked fish dish that you love to eat.