Marinated Tomato and Burrata Salad

5 from 6 votes

Marinated Tomato and Burrata Salad

Marinated Tomato and Burrata Salad with peak-season heirloom tomatoes, a garlicky herb Parm vinaigrette, and creamy burrata. The ultimate summer salad.

Prep Time15

Cook Time0

Total Time15

Course: Side Dish, Salad

Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean

Servings: people

Author: Gaby Dalkin

Ingredients

For the Vinaigrette

2 teaspoons garlic Minced
2 teaspoons shallots Minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried parsley
½ teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cups red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the Salad

4 cups heirloom tomatoes halved (cherry tomatoes and larger tomatoes)
8 oz burrata cheese torn into large bite-sized pieces
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For the Vinaigrette

Combine all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor and whirl together for 1-2 minutes until everything is finely chopped. While the food processor is still running, stream in the olive oil until fully incorporated. Transfer to an airtight container and set aside until ready to use.

For the salad

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes and half of the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Save the remaining vinaigrette for future use. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes then serve at room temperature with burrata on top.

Notes

Use a food processor, not a whisk, for the vinaigrette. Blending the garlic, shallots, herbs, and vinegar together before streaming in the oil creates a more emulsified and cohesive dressing. Whisking by hand leaves the dried herbs gritty and the garlic unevenly distributed.
Stream the olive oil in slowly while the processor runs. Adding the oil gradually while the motor is running creates a temporary emulsion that keeps the vinaigrette from separating too quickly. Dumping it in all at once breaks the dressing before it has a chance to come together.
Make a double batch of the vinaigrette and store it for the week. This dressing keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. Having it on hand means you can throw this salad together in under five minutes on any given night.
Only dress the tomatoes with half the vinaigrette. The recipe intentionally uses half so the tomatoes absorb flavor without drowning. Oversaucing a tomato salad makes it watery and masks the natural brightness of the fruit.
Let the tomatoes marinate for the full 20 minutes before plating. Marinating draws out the tomato juices, which mingle with the vinaigrette to create a deeply flavored pooling liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Skipping this step means you lose the best part.
Serve the tomatoes at room temperature, not cold. Cold dulls the volatile aromatic compounds in tomatoes that give them their peak summer flavor. Never refrigerate tomatoes before serving in a dish like this.
Buy your tomatoes at the farmers market, not the grocery store. Peak-season farmers market tomatoes are picked ripe and have a sugar-to-acid ratio that grocery store tomatoes simply cannot match. The tomato is the star here, so its quality determines the entire dish.
Use a mix of cherry tomatoes and larger heirloom varieties. Cherry tomatoes hold their shape and absorb the marinade quickly, while larger tomatoes break down slightly and release more juice into the dressing. The combination creates varied texture and depth of flavor.
Tear the burrata; do not slice it. Tearing burrata creates jagged edges with more surface area, which allows the creamy interior to spill out and coat the tomatoes underneath. Slicing it gives you clean rounds that sit on top without integrating into the dish.
Add the burrata only at the moment of serving. Burrata weeps its liquid center quickly once torn, and if it sits in the vinaigrette too long it becomes waterlogged and loses its lush, creamy texture. Plate the tomatoes first, then tear the burrata directly on top.
Season the finished salad with flaky salt, not just kosher salt. A pinch of flaky salt added at the end provides bursts of salinity that contrast with the creamy burrata and sweet tomatoes in a way that evenly mixed kosher salt cannot replicate.
Use the leftover vinaigrette pooled at the bottom of the bowl for bread dipping. After marinating, the tomato juices combine with the herb vinaigrette to create something deeply savory and sweet. A crusty piece of bread dragged through that liquid is not optional.

Nutrition (estimated)