Simple to make and appealing to look at, this salad beautifully pairs apricots with cherries. Soft, mild, creamy burrata adds a luxurious texture to the dish and contrasts with the smoky balsamic notes of black garlic
Serves 4
Ingredients
• 6 apricots, halved
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing and drizzling
• 1 vegetarian burrata cheese 16 cherries, halved and pitted
• 1 black garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tbsp lemon verbena leaves, or fresh thyme leaves
Method
1 Halve the apricots, discarding their stones. Lightly brush the flesh side of the apricots with olive oil.
2 Heat a griddle pan until hot. Place the apricots oiled side down and cook for 3 minutes until charred. Remove and allow to cool. Alternately, if you don’t have a griddle pan, preheat the grill, lightly brush the flesh side of the apricots with olive oil and grill the apricot halves flesh side up for 5–6 minutes until softened and lightly browned. Remove and leave to cool.
3 Place the griddled or grilled apricots in a serving dish. Break the burrata cheese into pieces and dot these and the cherry halves among the apricots. Sprinkle with black garlic and lemon verbena leaves. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil and serve immediately.
The Kew Gardens Salad Book by Jenny Linford. Photography by Hugh Johnson (Kew Publishing, £22, order via shop.kew.org)
