Serving up flavorful Bruschetta with Citrus Roasted Olives and Burrata today for your dining pleasure. Close your eyes and imagine a buttery, toasted baguette slice topped with heavenly burrata, the queen of Italian cheeses. As if that wasn’t enough, roasted green and black olives coated with a citrusy glaze are the crowning glory on this tasty dish. Every last bite is full of creamy, briny, crunchy deliciousness!
What is bruschetta?
If you are like me, when you hear the word bruschetta you think of a toasted slice of bread, typically topped with tomatoes, herbs and olive oil. However, in reality, the word bruschetta only refers to how the bread is prepared, not the toppings. Traditional bruschetta is thick slices of grilled rustic bread, which are topped with garlic and olive oil. In this bruschetta recipe, instead of grilling the bread, I toasted it in a skillet with butter. Can you blame me? Of course, if you want to use a grill pan to get the marks, or grill it on a grill, that works too.
What is burrata?
Now that we have gotten the confusion about bruschetta out of the way let’s turn our attention to the burrata. And, my oh my, if you have never tasted burrata you are going to fall in love. For an idea of the taste, think about the best fresh mozzarella you’ve ever tried, with a soft interior full of fresh cream and mozzarella shreds. Burrata is the stuff that cheese dreams are made of. And, once you taste it, there is no going back.
How this recipe came to be:
You might be wondering why an Italian-style recipe like this is showing up on a Southern-style cooking blog? Well, I recently attended a food bloggers conference in Salt Lake City. While at the conference, a few of us were invited to attend dinner at the Table X restaurant, sponsored by the California Ripe Olive Committee. It was an elegant five-course dinner with every course, even dessert, featuring olives. My favorite dish by far was the Homemade Burrata with Puffed California Ripe Olive Crackers, Citrus Roasted Olives and Greens. And, that dish was the inspiration for this recipe with my own twist, which I know you will love too!
I purchased pre-made burrata rather than making it by hand, and I adapted the recipe for the citrus roasted olives from a recipe by Lydia Bastianich. The grocery store didn’t have anything even remotely like the olive crackers, so I decided to pile the olives and burrata on top of bruschetta. The results are in and, if you can’t have the real thing at Table X, this is the next best thing.
The most wonderful aspect of bruschetta besides the fact that it is utterly delicious, is its versatility! Depending on the topping it can be served as an appetizer or starter, a light lunch, or even a light dinner. In fact, after taking the photographs, I had it for lunch yesterday, and my husband and I enjoyed the leftovers with our dinner.
More appetizer recipes:
If you like this recipe for bruschetta, I know you will also love these easy appetizer recipes made with bread: Quick and Easy Hanky Pankies, Easy Sausage Cheese Bread, Bruschetta Avocado Toast, and Cheesy Creole Shrimp Toast.
How to make roasted citrus olives:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Grate the zest of one orange and juice both oranges.
Place the orange juice, olive oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper in a glass 9×13 inch baking dish and stir to combine.
Add the olives and toss to combine. Top with the sprigs of thyme and orange zest and roast for 30-35 minutes. Stir every ten minutes or so while the olives are roasting.
When the olives are done, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
How to make bruschetta:
While the olives are roasting, add 3 tablespoons of butter to a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add half the baguette slices. Let the bread toast for about 2-3 minutes per side until it is golden brown on both sides. Remove and set aside. Add the remaining butter and baguette slices and repeat.
How to assemble Bruschetta with Citrus Roasted Olives and Burrata:
Slice each ball of burrata into six pieces and place on top of each slice of warm toasted bread.
Top with the olive mixture and garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Sharon’s Expert Tips:
- You will probably experience sticker stock when purchasing your burrata. Two four ounce balls of burrata cost $9.99. However, I was able to slice each ball of burrata into 6 pieces so just one container is enough for this recipe. Burrata usually can be found in 2, 4 or 8 oz balls.
- If you can’t find burrata, you can substitute sliced fresh mozzarella cheese. If you decide to use mozzarella, you might want to run the bruschetta and mozzarella under the broiler for it to melt just a little before adding the olives.
- When slicing your baguette, cut it into diagonal slices to allow for the most surface area possible. You can use a grill pan to toast your bread if you want grill marks. But I think it tastes better cooked in butter in a skillet.
- If you are in a hurry and looking for a shortcut, you can skip roasting the olives and just top them with a little thyme and orange zest. The bruschetta will still be delicious. You can also use just green or black olives instead of a mixture.
- These days you can find an olive bar in most grocery stores, or canned or jarred olives work as well.
- I left my olives whole, but you can certainly slice or chop them if you prefer.
- Since it’s just me and my husband, I toasted half of the bread one day and made six slices of bruschetta. I refrigerated the olives and burrata and will make the rest of the bruschetta another day.
📋 Recipe:
Bruschetta with Citrus Roasted Olives and Burrata Recipe
Ingredients
Roasted Citrus Olive Ingredients:
- 2 oranges
- 1 lb large green and black olives pitted
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 sprigs thyme fresh, plus additional for garnish if desired
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Bruschetta Ingredients:
- 1 baguette sliced on the diagonal into 12 slices, approximately ½ inches thick.
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
Burrata Ingredients:
- 2 - 4 oz balls of burrata
Instructions
Roasted Citrus Olives Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Grate the zest of one orange and juice both oranges.
- Place the orange juice, olive oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper in a glass 9x13 inch baking dish and stir to combine.
- Add the olives and toss to combine. Top with the sprigs of thyme and orange zest and roast for 30-35 minutes. Stir every ten minutes or so while the olives are roasting.
- When the olives are done, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove the sprigs of thyme.
Bruschetta Directions:
- While the olives are roasting, add 3 tablespoons of butter to a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add half the baguette slices. Let the bread toast for about 2-3 minutes per side until it is golden brown on both sides. Remove and set aside. Add the remaining butter and baguette slices and repeat.
Assembly:
- Slice each ball of burrata into six pieces and place on top of each slice of warm toasted bread.
- Top with the olive mixture and garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- You will probably experience sticker stock when purchasing your burrata. Two four ounce balls of burrata cost $9.99. However, I was able to slice each ball of burrata into 6 pieces so just one container is enough for this recipe.
- Burrata usually can be found in 2, 4 or 8 oz balls. If you can't find burrata, you can substitute sliced fresh mozzarella cheese. If you decide to use mozzarella, you might want to run the bruschetta and mozzarella under the broiler for it to melt just a little before adding the olives.
- When slicing your baguette, cut it into diagonal slices to allow for the most surface area possible.
- You can use a grill pan to toast your bread if you want grill marks, but I think it tastes better cooked in butter in a skillet.
- If you are in a hurry and looking for a shortcut, you can skip roasting the olives and just top them with a little thyme and orange zest. The bruschetta will still be delicious. You can also use just green or black olives instead of a mixture.
- These days you can find an olive bar in most grocery stores, or canned or jarred olives work as well. I left my olives whole, but you can certainly slice or chop them if you prefer.
- Since it's just me and my husband, I toasted half of the bread one day and made just six slices of bruschetta. I refrigerated the olives and burrata and will make the rest of the bruschetta another day.
Nutrition
So yumm. perfect appetiser.