Real Italian Burrata

As I've mentioned before, burrata is another favorite of mine.  
I splurged on some of the really good stuff to enjoy over the weekend (some = an entire ball to myself) and it brought me back to memories of Italy, specifically Florence.  I thought I'd share one with you.
If you ever find yourself wandering the streets of Florence with a few hours to kill, please read below and visit Ristorante Sanfrediavino.  Here, I even found it listed on TripAdvisor for you.
When we first arrived in Florence after checking into our beautiful hotel, the Riva Lofts, we had a few hours to kill before meeting up with a friend for dinner.  Our sweet concierge suggested we wander close by to Sanfrediavino for a late lunch.  It was a tiny room of a restaurant with bright purple walls and the owner / only employee we saw there with his long shaggy hair, plaid flannel shirt and thick glasses looked more like he grew up in Portland than in Florence.  He humored my attempt to converse in Italian and when I had exhausted my vocabulary he effortlessly switched over to English.  He actually stopped us from ordering after naming only a couple dishes, saying, "that's too much!"  Alas, I will have to return one day to try his gnocchi.  
With the first taste from the heaping pile (we're talking huge...YUGE!) of burrata with heirloom tomatoes that had been set in front of us I thought I'd died and gone to Italian heaven.  The flavors of the locally - and freshly - made cheese is just on an entirely other level than anything I've tasted back here.  I was ecstatic for the experience, savored every single bite, then felt sad at that last bite knowing I wouldn't have it again anytime soon.

Anyway, my lunch of burrata and tomatoes this weekend brought me back to that day, that experience, and made me long for the ability to time travel.

Sometimes You Deserve It.

Matt and I both had a long week.  What a better way to unwind on a Friday night than with a bottle of wine and a spread of deliciousness?

Burrata drizzled in olive oil, salt & pepper with prosciutto di parma

Orange and yellow cocktail tomatoes with burrata

Saint Agur Blue

Marinated olives

Toasted sourdough baguette, drizzled with olive oil & fresh pepper (pre-toasting)

Humboldt Fog

Yes please.

A Lotta Burrata

Burrata is one of my favorite cheeses - in the mozzarella family, actually developed from mozzarella and cream. The outside "pouch" is made of mozzarella, then filled with mozzarella bits and cream before it's knotted closed. Once cut open, the thickened cream oozes out into a gooey, buttery heaven.
When I ever get around to learning to make cheese. . . creating this will be a priority.

I serve burrata split open in the middle of a cheese board, drizzled with a nice olive oil, sprinkled with freshly ground pepper and surrounded by extra thin slices of prosciutto di parma and/or heirloom tomatoes... It happens far more often than it should.