My super creative daughter in law threw a birthday party for our 1 year old grandson last week. She served my Tortellini with Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes, meatballs and this amazing Deconstructed Caprese Salad Party Platter. Isn’t it gorgeous? And so darn easy!
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What’s on the Deconstructed Caprese Salad Party Platter?
Fresh, cherry tomatoes, a sliced baguette, peppery arugula, fragrant basil, creamy burrata cheese, all displayed free form on a large wooden platter or cutting board. The final touches are olive oil, sea salt and a thick syrupy balsamic glaze! What’s so great about this platter is that your guests can pile their plate any way they wish! They can keep it low carb by skipping the bread, or make themselves a little bruschetta. It’s totally to them! I am big on offering choices.
Let’s Talk Burrata Cheese:
Burrata cheese is a creamy dreamy combination of mozzarella and cream. If you’ve never tried it, you are missing out on one of life’s great pleasures. And let me tell you, burrata with sweet balsamic glaze is out of this world!
Let’s Talk Balsamic Glaze:
Balsamic glaze is “reduced balsamic” vinegar. It’s that simple, but reducing it makes a huge difference. If you were to drizzle a balsamic vinegar on this deconstructed salad, it would just run off the lettuce, tomatoes and cheese onto the platter. Balsamic glaze on the other hand, is thick, like syrup, so it stays put! Drizzle it on and then leave the bottle by the salad so guests can add more as desired.
Making This Platter Gluten Free and Just as Good!
If you are like me and need to accommodate gluten free friends or family members, I am going to give you a life saver baguette suggestion! Against The Grain Baguettes are sold in the frozen section of many groceries stores. Our family LOVES them!
The Recipe: Deconstructed Caprese Salad Party Platter
What you need: Balsamic glaze, a pretty large wooden platter or cutting board, a good sea salt (I use Maldon’s sea salt ), and as always a good knife.
A beautiful party platter that can be assembled in five minutes!
- 3 8 ounce rounds of Burrata cheese
- 3 ounces arugula
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves (I prefer to buy the live plant at the grocery store rather than the cut leaves)
- 2 pints various colors of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1-2 baguettes, sliced (and toasted if preferred)
- 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic glaze
- sea salt
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If you are toasting baguette: preheat oven to 400, slice bread 1" thick, place on a cookie sheet and toast until just golden. Set aside.
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Remove cheese from water and pat dry. Place cheese on platter with room for other ingredients in between. (I usually do one toward the upper right corner, center left, and one toward the lower right, see photos)
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Place rows of arugula and basil leaves, baguette slices, and tomatoes in a free form style on board. Fill in any empty spaces
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Drizzle everything except the bread generously with olive oil and balsamic glaze then sprinkle with a good sea salt (no table salt please)
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Leave the glaze and sea salt by the board, so as people take what they want, they can drizzle with more glaze and add sea salt as desired!
MAY I PLEASE ASK A FAVOR?
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What a great outside the box idea! I’m a huge fan of boards – charcuterie and otherwise. They never fail to impress.
Thanks janet!
Great idea using the burrata instead of mozzarella for a quick and delicious caprese. Thanks for the recipe. Pinned!
You had me at Burrata! This was a huge hit at Thanksgiving and I’m about to do it again for my Ornament Exchange ladies tonight!! Bravo!!
Thank you so much Lainie! I am so happy it was a hit!