Tuesday, June 21, 2016

“Gazpacho Verde” with Burrata Cheese – Swampy, in a Good Way

I’m not crazy about the name for this recipe, but I honestly didn’t know what else to call it, and I blame Twitter for that. Allow me to explain. I saw a photo on there of what I thought was a burrata sitting in a pool of green gazpacho soup, but after a closer look, it turned out to be salsa verde.

That does sound pretty good, but due to the mistaken identity, I was now fixated on the idea of serving this fresh, extra-creamy mozzarella in a bowl of ice cold, cucumber and herb-based gazpacho.

Except, I wanted the cheese to be the star of the dish, with the soup acting almost as a sauce. I thought of calling it something like, “Burrata in a Swamp,” but that didn’t pass the wife test, so long story short, I went with the search engine friendly name you see at the top of the post.

I really wanted a thin, light texture to play off the gooey cheese, so I didn’t add any bread, and also strained it through a fine sieve. The gazpacho seems colder, and more intense this way, and in my opinion works better than a thicker version would. So, whether you’re going to do this with the cheese or not, I really hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredient for 4 portions “Gazpacho Verde” with Burrata:
8 ounces burrata cheese (1/4 cup per serving)
3 cups sliced English cucumber (about one large)
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons picked fresh oregano leaves
1 cup packed picked basil leaves
1/4 to 1/3 cup seasoned *rice vinegar, to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup water, plus more as needed

*If using regular rice vinegar, season to taste with salt and sugar. You can also use white wine or sherry vinegar, and do the same.

25 comments:

Naomi said...

How many does this serve?

Unknown said...

What in the nine hells is a five sieve?

Andrew Aghapour said...

This looks amazing! (First time commenter long time fan- thanks, Chef John, for your wonderful recipes and videos.)

I notice that you have been experimenting with burrata lately, which piques my interest since I've been wanting to make it myself using this recipe from ChefSteps (paywall, but free video): https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/burrata

John, have you considered making burrata yourself? And what would you think of adding the ChefSteps burrata, with its much creamier interior, to your green gazpacho? I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations!

Unknown said...

I think I have to try this soon, looks like liquid jade...
Would dry oregano work in this at all?

Unknown said...

Looks great. But I thought that a rule for gazpacho, was that it had to have tomatoes in it. To me this looks like a great cold soup recipe, but has otherwise nothing to do with gazpacho.

Unknown said...

Love your recipes! One request... happen to have anything that uses super hot peppers but focuses on flavor more than the heat of the peppers?

Chef John said...

Sorry, that would be a "fine" sieve!

Chef John said...

Ruben,

Actually the original gazpacho contained no tomatoes! They weren't even availabe in Spain at the time. The soup was water, bread, olive oil, and garlic, and sometimes vegetables, and then much later tomatoes.

I await your formal apology. ;)

Thanks!

Unknown said...

Well then, I do hope you accept my most sincerest apologies. I'm glad to say that my local store happen to sell burrata cheese, so I'm excited to actually try this recipe out tomorrow. :)

Mercy2600 said...

Looks fantastic. Can't wait to try it as I have fresh basil and oregano in the garden.

Atomic Survivor said...

Is there a possible way to not use cucumber? I am not the biggest fan of cucumber.

Unknown said...

@Andrew Aghapour I've been chasing home-made Burrata too.. My best sources so far: for cultured curd: The Prarie Homestead . For stretching and Stracciatella: Caputo's demos . It would be a long haul, for me. Possibly nutty question: can you reheat and re-stretch store-bought Mozzarella?

Unknown said...

I made this last night and it was phenomenal. Thanks for another great recipe!

mom of chef said...

Oops - don't see onions and rice listed on ingrediant list, but I forgive you (:

mom of chef said...

Sorry Chef - I was looking at the Greek Egg-Lemon soup. So sorry. I really am smart though...

Unknown said...

Just made this to cool me down after another long 110 degree afternoon

Thanks chef John
This was delicious

David's Turnings said...

Any chance of a recipe to make your own Burrata? If it's like mozzarella it's totally easy.

Mark said...

I made this last night. Came out really well, although I tried harvesting basil from my own plants, so I wound up with less yield than I hoped, which affected the color (too light). I also added one lemon's worth of juice, which made the flavors pop. Thanks for this one Chef, and cheers from Rochester!

Chris K. said...

This was really good! Grocery store was out of burrata, so I substituted some lame "fresh" mozzarella and marscapone instead. Not even close to using real burrata, but it sort of captured the contrast in textures. The marscapone was nice as a spread on the grilled bread, too.

I used a blend of rice wine vinegar and tarragon-infused vinegar. The anise-ish flavor added an interesting component to the herbs and cucumber.

I will definitely make this again, when I can get my hands on some decent burrata.

Unknown said...

MIne came out waaay too vinegary. I really like the idea, but I wish I had seasoned it with some vinegar after it was blended and chilled. Texture was awesome without straining.

Unknown said...

Made this and loved it. I thought it definitely needed the accompaniments of the cheese (Whole Foods to the rescue, again) and a good toasted artisan bread. The soup flavor when chilled was truly refreshing (sorry, if that sounds bland but it's a great Summer soup) but the "extras" made it special as a nice first course or a light meal. Thanks for another use for those Summer herbs I've got over-growing in pots.

Unknown said...

i just did this and it was marvelous!! even not that beautiful like John's, but that was unbelievable amazing i did it!

Unknown said...

i just did this and it was marvelous!! even not that beautiful like John's, but that was unbelievable amazing i did it!

Andrea said...

We made this right after we saw your video and it was so, so, awesome. We followed the recipe to a T, including all the fresh herbs and the burrata cheese. The burrata cheese made it exceptional, good choice! We loved it so much, we are making it again today! Ironically, my husband doesn't even like cucumbers (allegedly) but he loves this soup and he is the one who makes this for us, lol. :) Thanks, Chef.

Sajjan Sarkar said...

Made this, the cheese was nice, but not a huge fan of the dish overall.It had a nice fresh mouthfeel and clean flavor but somehow just didnt click for me.