A deliciously summery bowl that truly satisfies! Pesto couscous is topped with slow roasted tomatoes, white beans and a creamy ball of burrata… bursting with flavour and plant based protein, this will work perfectly as a summer dinner or even as a warm salad to serve as a side dish.
So you’ve treated yourself to some burrata, and now you want to center a meal around it. This is a good plan. Allow me to help.
This “bowl meal” is full of Mediterranean style yumminess which creates a well rounded meal and lets your burrata shine.
And it’s low stress. Bowl meals can be hard work – lots of little bits that need individual preparation. I tried to make this bowl come together in a relaxed way without too many things competing for your attention at once.
So here’s what we’re going to do. There is a full printable recipe card at the bottom, so scroll on ahead if you wish to dive right in – but first I will run you through each of the components with photos and some additional tips.
The base: Pesto Couscous
This couscous is verrrry easy. Just cook some couscous and stir in pesto. DONE.
Green or red pesto, jarred or fresh, it all works.
Other grains can swap in but I like how the fine, fluffy texture of couscous works here. The tomato and burrata juices are absorbed nicely but they don’t disappear.
The Greens: Lemony Kale
You saute a little kale, real quick, with a squeeze of lemon, and there’s not much more to say about that.
Cavolo nero, spinach, chard, any of these would swap in beautifully.
The Protein: White Beans with Slow(ish) Roasted Tomatoes
The main hot component to this bowl is slow roasted tomatoes with white beans. You roast them low and slow for one hour.
In this magic hour, juices from the tomatoes will slowly leach out and be embraced by the beans. The tomatoes will go a little jammy and sticky. The oil and tomato juices will thicken and turn saucy. We like.
The Star of the Show: Burrata Cheese
Also, some olives if you fancy? A little extra drizzle of pesto?
And that is basically it.
You can, of course, add any number of extras to this bowl, so if you give it your own twist, I’d love to hear all about it in the comments.
And if you’re as much of a burrata lover as I think you are, I can also offer you a burrata as a taco topping (yes seriously!) and a crazy delicious Pasta Burrata Bruschetta recipe to consider.
Burrata Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 or 2 balls burrata*
- 1 cup (170 g) dried couscous
- 2 Tbsp pesto
- 3.5 oz (100 g) kale
- 12 olives
For the roasted tomatoes and white beans
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1.5 lbs (680.39 g) cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup (240 g) cooked white beans**, drained and rinsed
- Mixed dried Italian herbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C / 320F.
- Prepare the beans and tomatoes. In a large casserole dish, combine the olive oil, tomatoes, white beans and garlic. Sprinkle salt, pepper and Italian dried herbs to taste. Place in the oven for 50 minutes. At the halfway point, remove from the oven and stir through.
- Once there are only 10 minutes left on the clock, start work on your couscous.
- Prepare the couscous. Place in a large bowl and pour boiling water over the dried couscous until the water comes up about 1cm above the top of the couscous. Cover and leave for 5 minutes. Remove the cover, use a fork to fluff it up and break it apart, and then stir in the green pesto until it is all mixed through. Now cover it back up and let it sit until it's time to make up the bowls.
- Once the tomatoes are done, remove them from the oven and let them sit out while you cook the kale. You want the kale to be the last thing that is ready, and a few minutes sitting out will help the texture of the tomatoes to settle.
- Cook the kale. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan or wok. Stir fry the kale on medium heat, adding a few squeezes of lemon juice to the pan while it's cooking, until it's bright green and starting to wilt.
- Assemble your bowls. Start with a bed of couscous, throw some kale on the side, top with the tomato bean mix, and finally some burrata and olives. You may wish to drizzle a little extra pesto on top.