Grilled caprese bruschetta

I like to think of this as twisted caprese salad meets a fancy French bread pizza.  Grilling the tomatoes for this dish make them super sweet & juicy and it is the perfect combo with the toasty, crunchy bread.   And burrata...what can I say...? I love you so!  It translates as "buttered" in Italian so you know it really makes anything you put it on special.  If you can't find burrata in your area (and I am truly bummed for you if you can't), sub in fresh mozzarella slices.

It's a great main vegetarian main course served with a crisp green salad, or a really impressive appetizer when cut into smaller pieces.  It's all done in minutes on the grill so you don't have to heat up the kitchen & it showcases some of the best of summer flavors.

Serves 8 as a main, 16 as an appetizer

One French baguette
Extra virgin olive oil
1 dry pint small cherry or grape tomatoes
8 oz. ball of burrata
1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
more olive oil for drizzling

Preheat grill to medium-high heat for 10 minutes.

Cut baguette in half crosswise.  Slice each half horizontally/lengthwise so you have 4 large, flat pieces.  Brush generously with extra virgin olive oil.

Take 2, 12x18 inch pieces of aluminum foil and stack them on top of each other.  Double fold over each side of the foil creating a rim around all edges - approx. 8x14 inches.  We are creating a little foil “pan” to cook the tomatoes on the grill with an edge so they don't roll off :).

Grill bread, cut side down, about 3-4 minutes, until nicely toasted & slightly charred with definite grill marks.  Remove from grill.

Place foil on grill and add tomatoes.  Drizzle with a 1 T. of olive oil and stir.  Close cover & grill 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until skins just begin to split.  Carefully remove foil from grill (I slide it onto a sheet pan).

Divide burrata between the four pieces of bread.  Pile tomatoes on top of burrata & bread.   Finish with roughly torn basil leaves, sea salt & fresh ground pepper and another generous drizzle of olive oil.  Slice to desired size & enjoy!