Lukewarm spring salad with burrata and breadcrumbs

As managing editor of FavorFlav and with a busy social life, I often have little time to cook elaborate meals during the week. This salad is the perfect solution. While the asparagus and radishes roast in the AEG steam oven, I prepare the rest of the ingredients. In no time at all, I’m sitting with a plate and a beer on my Amsterdam balcony. 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Broad beans

Bring a pan of water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add salt and the broad beans. Blanch for 3 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water. You can now double-pod the broad beans; I think they taste best this way. Sprinkle the beans with salt and set aside.

Asparagus

Peel the asparagus with a slight overlap and remove the woody ends (about 2 cm). Boil the asparagus for 5 minutes in a pan of salted water. Then transfer to an oven dish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool slightly and cut each asparagus spear into 3 pieces.

Radishes

Separate the radishes and halve the large ones. Place them on an oven tray and drizzle with olive oil, black pepper and salt. Roast for 5 minutes and toss. Roast them for another 5 minutes. Then remove them from the oven and transfer the radishes to a bowl with a generous knob of butter. Toss until the radishes are coated with a layer of butter.

Breadcrumbs

Break the ciabatta into pieces and pulse together with the hazelnuts until finely crumbed. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the bread and hazelnut mixture to the pan and stir well. Lower the heat, add a knob of butter and salt, and gently fry for 15 minutes until golden brown. Finally, grate the zest of the lemon over it and stir well.

Don’t have a food processor? A blender or stick blender should work too.

Divide the broad beans between 1 large platter or 2 large plates. Then divide the radishes and asparagus between them and sprinkle everything with Maldon salt. Sprinkle generously with the breadcrumbs. Place the balls of burrata on the salad and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and Maldon salt, then grate the zest of the other lemon over it.

Tip: serve with crusty sourdough bread and salted butter.

Tip: can’t find burrata? You could replace it with buffalo mozzarella.

This article was created in collaboration with AEG.

Image: Sven Benjamins Photography