If you love a Caprese salad, this recipe is definitely going to be right up your alley!! Mostly because it’s my own personal take on a Caprese, using not only the best of the best in season summer heirloom tomatoes, but my other summer favorite: stone fruits. You can use truly any stone fruit, but plumcots are a favorite for me, so I went with it. There’s a two week window every summer where tomatoes and stone fruit are both perfect at the same time, and if you’re not taking advantage of that overlap, and I say this without judgement but… you’re doing summer wrong.
Plumcots, if you haven’t met them, are a plum and apricot cross, and they bring this juicy, slightly tart sweetness that plays incredibly well against a ripe heirloom tomato. You’re getting savory and sweet in the same bite without anyone having to explain to you why that works. You know it when you taste it!
The move here that makes this feel like more than a caprese with extra steps is the vinaigrette. Instead of the usual olive oil and balsamic situation, I blitzed up a pesto-inspired dressing with lots of fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, a clove of garlic, a touch of maple, and a hefty hand of nutritional yeast for a little savory depth just like in pesto (no cheese required, especially since it won’t blend as nicely as notch!). It comes out this gorgeous emerald green and it clings to everything instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl, which, if that we’re to happen with this vinaigrette is fine, as I could probably just drink it straight from the bottle its THAT good.
Assembly is genuinely just slicing things and stacking them. Tomatoes quartered and sliced, plumcots cut into eighths, basil tucked in wherever there’s a gap, and a ball of burrata plopped right in the center like it’s the main event, because it is (and when is it not?). Black pepper on top, vinaigrette over everything, and you’re done. Fifteen minutes, zero cooking, maximum “I have my life together” energy for something that took almost no effort. And you will feel so good after enjoying!
Tag @herbyeater on TikTok and Instagram if you make it, mostly because I want to see your burrata-to-tomato ratio (all ratios accepted here!).
Heirloom Tomato, Plumcot & Burrata Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Small blender or food processor (for vinaigrette)
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
For Salad:
- 2 heirloom tomatoes quartered and sliced
- 3 plumcots each cut into 8 pieces
- 1 cup about 20g fresh basil leaves, torn or left whole
- 1 ball burrata about 8 oz / 227g
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
For the Vinaigrette:
- 1 cup 20g fresh basil leaves, packed
- ⅓ cup 80ml olive oil
- 2 tbsp 30ml white wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp 5ml maple syrup
- 1 tbsp 5g nutritional yeast
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the vinaigrette: add the basil, olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, maple syrup, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to a small blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and bright green, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Divide the sliced tomatoes and plumcots between two bowls.
- Tuck fresh basil leaves in around the fruit.
- Place half a ball of burrata (or a full ball, if serving 2) in the center of each bowl.
- Spoon the pesto vinaigrette generously over the top.
- Finish with black pepper and serve immediately.