Grilled caprese bruschetta

I like to think of this as twisted caprese salad meets a fancy French bread pizza.  Grilling the tomatoes for this dish make them super sweet & juicy and it is the perfect combo with the toasty, crunchy bread.   And burrata…what can I say…? I love you so!  It translates as “buttered” in Italian so you know it really makes anything you put it on special.  If you can’t find burrata in your area (and I am truly bummed for you if you can’t), sub in fresh mozzarella slices.

It’s a great main vegetarian main course served with a crisp green salad, or a really impressive appetizer when cut into smaller pieces.  It’s all done in minutes on the grill so you don’t have to heat up the kitchen & it showcases some of the best of summer flavors.

Serves 8 as a main, 16 as an appetizer

One French baguette
Extra virgin olive oil
1 dry pint small cherry or grape tomatoes
8 oz. ball of burrata
1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
more olive oil for drizzling

Preheat grill to medium-high heat for 10 minutes.

Cut baguette in half crosswise.  Slice each half horizontally/lengthwise so you have 4 large, flat pieces.  Brush generously with extra virgin olive oil.

Take 2, 12×18 inch pieces of aluminum foil and stack them on top of each other.  Double fold over each side of the foil creating a rim around all edges – approx. 8×14 inches.  We are creating a little foil “pan” to cook the tomatoes on the grill with an edge so they don’t roll off :).

Grill bread, cut side down, about 3-4 minutes, until nicely toasted & slightly charred with definite grill marks.  Remove from grill.

Place foil on grill and add tomatoes.  Drizzle with a 1 T. of olive oil and stir.  Close cover & grill 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until skins just begin to split.  Carefully remove foil from grill (I slide it onto a sheet pan).

Divide burrata between the four pieces of bread.  Pile tomatoes on top of burrata & bread.   Finish with roughly torn basil leaves, sea salt & fresh ground pepper and another generous drizzle of olive oil.  Slice to desired size & enjoy!