Fresh Basil Oil + Burrata and Roasted Tomato Appetizer

Homemade basil oil is an easy way to elevate your dishes. I love adding fresh basil oil to bring the essence and color of basil to pizzas, appetizers, or small bites because it’s more predictable than plain fresh basil. With the appetizer below, you want to keep the silky texture of the burrata intact, and basil oil elevates the flavor of the appetizer further without compromising how it eats.

Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 15 servings

Ingredients:

-1 cup fresh basil leaves

-1/2 cup olive oil

-1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

-pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Add basil leaves, oil, and fresh lemon juice to a food processor and blend until leaves are broken up and mixture is well combined.

2. Add the basil mixture into a medium saucepan, cooking on medium-low heat for 25 minutes to cook out the moisture.

3. While basil is cooking, fill a large bowl with ice water and add another bowl over the ice water.

4. Once the basil oil has cooked, pour it into the fresh bowl, which is sitting on ice, and cool down the oil.

5. Once the oil is completely cool, pour it into a squeeze bottle.

6. ** You must date this oil; do not use past day 4, as botulism is odorless and tasteless.

7. Store sealed in the refrigerator.

For the appetizer:

Ingredients:

• two 16-oz packages of Campari tomatoes

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 3 cloves of garlic, grated

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• 3 small burrata balls.

• Fresh basil oil

• baguette slices

• 3 tablespoons salted butter

• Flakey salt

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Add the tomatoes to a large bowl.

3. Mix olive oil, garlic, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano before pouring over the tomatoes, coating well.

4. Roast the tomatoes for 20 minutes, turning halfway through.

5. While the tomatoes roast, butter 12-15 slices of baguettes, placing them on a lined baking sheet.

6. Take the tomatoes out of the oven and toast the bread slices for 4-5 minutes.

7. Add tomatoes to a large serving plate straight from the oven, leaving a small space in the middle.

8. Open the burrata and place it over the tomatoes.

9. Add the toasted bread around the perimeter, drizzle the dish with basil oil, and top with flaky salt.