Fromage Friday: Di Stefano Burrata Alla Panna Review

This week’s cheese is Di Stefano Burrata Alla Panna.  Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream.  Staring back at me from the Whole Foods cheese case, this cheese looked like a present wrapped in green ribbon, which seemed to resemble banana leaves.  It wasn’t what I came in for, but having had an amazing salad with Burrata and mangos  a couple of years ago at The Green Zebra in Chicago, I knew there was no way I was going home without it.  I decided to replicate that dish.  I couldn’t remember exactly what had been on the plate so I decided to do a simple preparation of Burrata and mango slices with a balsamic reduction.  Since mango isn’t so great this time of year I grilled it simply with a little cooking spray to bring out the natural sugars.

On it’s own, the flavor of this cheese was mild and milky.  Were I eating it plain I would have liked a bit of saltiness coming from the cheese, but since it was part of a dish I was able to compensate with a couple grinds of sea salt.  When paired with the mango and reduction it was perfect.  These components brought out some latent sweetness in the cheese and the fleshy texture of the mango made the creaminess of the cheese all the more apparent.  I loved this combination and would highly recommend it.  It’s quite an easy appetizer to make and impresses.  (To make my balsamic reduction I take 1 cup of balsamic vinegar and 1 tablesoon raw sugar and cook it until it is reduced by 2/3 and syrupy.)  Once tomatoes are in season again it would also be amazing with some slices of an heirloom variety.  This cheese retailed for $9.99 for an 8 ounce ball.

Tagged as: Cheese, Fromage Friday, Product Review, Vegetarian