Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
This asparagus and burrata salad is quick, easy and delicious, with a piquant balsamic dressing to contrast with the mild, creamy burrata and sweet, unassuming asparagus.
So, guess what? Another quick and easy, no long spiel post! Hurrah!
Asparagus and Burrata Salad Recipe
A fairly fluid salad, I’ve kept it very simple and basic in terms of ingredients here, with only asparagus, tomatoes and burrata. With the odd sprinkling of baby herbs.
But you an add more salad ingredients if you like, in the form of leaves, cucumbers, avocado and more herbs. Or anything else.
What is Burrata?
Burrata is a cheese pouch, to put it simply! It hails from Puglia and has been around since early 20th century.
Burrata, which means buttery, is a pouch made of stretchy cheese much like mozzarella, that holds a combination of fresh cream (panna in Italian) and leftover cheese scraps from making mozzarella. These cheese scraps are called stracciatella, meaning small rags.
I love burrata, it’s cheese and cream in one! What’s not to love? Given its creamy and super mild constitution, it’s just begging for contrast, hence our strong, balsamic dressing.
Another example of contrasting flavours with burrata is how it’s used in our Shakshuka, here on LinsFood. Shakshuka is that Middle Eastern breakfast dish of eggs poached in a thick tomato based sauce, as you can see below.
Can’t get Burrata?
Use any cheese you fancy and slice it, crumble it or grate it and sprinkle it all over.
Why add sodium bicarbonate when blanching green vegetables?
You’ll see that we add some sodium bicarbonate to the boiling water before blanching the asparagus. We do this to maintain the colour of the asparagus.
It’s all about the chlorophyll and the magnesium in your greens. Chlorophyl loves to ditch its magnesium when heated using acidic or neutral water. Without magnesium, chlorophyll gets dull and becomes a khaki colour.
By increasing the alkalinity of your cooking water, the sodium bicarbonate ensures that the magnesium in your chlorophyll remains intact.
Result = vibrant green.
Of course we stop the vegetables from cooking further by dropping them in ice cold water.
If cooked for too long, sodium bicarbonate does turn your vegetables to mush. But we don’t do that, do we? That’s why it’s called blanching. Right?
So now you know.
Shall we get our aprons on?
And if you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!
Lin xx
More recipes on the Salad Page
Smoked Salmon Salad 
Avocado Half Shell Salad 
Salad Shirazi
Asparagus and Burrata Salad (with Balsamic Dressing)
Ingredients
- 500 g asparagus
- 16 cherry tomatoes
- 4 small burrate about 100g/3.5oz each OR 2 regular ones
- small amount of herbs of your choice
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 tsp sodium bicarbonate for blanching the asparagus
Dressing
- 4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tbsp EV olive oil
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- pinch of salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Mix all the dressing ingredients together and check seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Set aside.
- Rinse the asparagus. Then break off the woody end. Just grab your asparagus at the end with one hand, and halfway up with the other. Then bend. It will break naturally, at the spot between the woody end and where the tender part starts. Leave the asparagus whole. Of course, if you prefer, chop it up.
- Bring a saucepan of water to boil with the salt and sodium bicarbonate. Add the asparagus and cook for just 2 minutes.
- Drain, and rinse in cold water or drop into a bowl of ice water.
- Chop the tomatoes in half or quarters.
Serve Up
- If you've got small burrate (plural of burrata), place each burrata in the middle of a salad plate. If you have 2 big ones, just gently slice in half, and divide accordingly. Surround it with the blanched asparagus, tomatoes and herbs. Drizzle the dressing equally on all 4 plates. Garnish with edible flowers if you fancy. Top with some freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.
Made this as a starter for our dinner party for 6 yesterday. I managed to get the small burrata, it went down a treat. Thank you!
A pleasure, thanks for letting me know, Holly.
What a beautiful work of art! I’ll have to make this at our next dinner party. Thanks Azlin!
Thanks Liz, definitely one to impress with! Let me know if you do.
I love, love this so much! But I can’t get burrata. I’ve looked everywhere, even online. I want to try and make it as close to this as possible. What is the best easy to get cheese?
Mozzarella is going to be your best bet. Its mildness, almost bland, fits the bill perfectly, as a sub for the burrata. Let me know how you get on.
Salad is my ideal lunch in hot weather. This lovely salad would be just perfect for a light but wholesome lunch. Wonderful information on the cheese and tips on how to keep greens looking lush and fresh through blanching.
Thank you, Maria, it’s perfect on a hot day. The cheese is just enough to fill you up.
Oh wow, I’ve been wondering how to serve asparagus differently, this is so good. And love burrata. Thank you!
A pleasure, Michelle.
awesome
Cheers Dan.
luv the way you’ve used edible flowers in this. adds a beautiful twist on the whole recipe that’s perfect for summer barbecues and salads
Yes, perfect for the summer. Thank you!
Awesome recipe as usual, Lin. Can’t wait to try this out at the weekend.
Thank you. let me know what you think.