Caprese salad: the hero of all harried dinner party attendees. What's easier than slicing up some tomatoes and mozzarella and layering on some torn basil leaves as you rush out the door? It's a classic combination that's always a hit, but it's best served when the tomatoes are in peak season (hello, August!). To satisfy my craving right now, I opted to roast my tomatoes in tons of olive oil, which really coaxes out their umami flavor. Then, over a bed of quick-cook farro, I added an unctuous bundle of burrata and a nest of shredded chicken tossed in homemade pesto. With just a couple of extra steps, the humble caprese becomes a hearty meal that I've happily eaten for lunch many times over the past few weeks.
Ingredients
1 package (8.8 oz) quick-cook farro
12 oz cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1/2 cup olive oil
3 oz basil (about 2 packed cups of leaves)
2 Tbsp pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
fresh burrata
salt & pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°. In a small baking dish, combine the tomatoes and 1/4 cup olive oil along with 1/2 tsp salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes have burst and released their juices. Set aside.
To make the pesto, combine the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic and 1 tsp salt in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. With the food processor on, stream in 1/2 cup olive oil, pausing from time to time to scrape down the sides. Finally, add the parmesan and pulse just to combine. Taste and add a little more salt if needed.
Cook the farro according to the instructions on the package. I always keep a few packs of the quick-cook farro from Trader Joes on hand because it cooks in 10 minutes and adds a great nuttiness to grain bowls like this one.
While the farro cooks, shred the meat from one rotisserie chicken. Feel free to use home-baked chicken breasts or thighs here, I just think buying an already cooked chicken from the store is a great shortcut in this case.
Add the pesto and mix well, so each piece of chicken gets well coated. This yields a good amount of pesto chicken, which is wonderful left over (add it to grilled cheese sandwiches and impromptu pasta dishes).
Now, combine! Start with a mound of farro, then add some tomatoes along with a few spoonfuls of their juices. Layer on a generous heap of pesto chicken and finish with a ball of burrata, topped with a grind of pepper and a flourish of flaky sea salt.
Share this story
