Totopos, Burrata and Toasted Corn.

Summer is that time of the year when we prefer spending more time outside and making the most of the nice weather.

There always seems to be less time to cook but also I find that the beautiful summer produce doesn’t need much preparation or cooking, what summer produce brings is the opportunity to cook more simply and to put together amazing little feasts in no time.

It’s all about fresh salads and herbs served simply with plenty of seasonal tomatoes and dressed with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Seafood seasoned with a bit of salt and ground pasilla pan fried with a bit of butter and olive oil, a grilled fish or a steak served with grilled seasonal veggies and homemade tortillas, or summer fruit transformed into a beautiful sorbet.

This recipe marries two of my favourite things to have in the summer: burrata and corn. I came up with this with the idea of Mexican elotes as inspiration, I love the combination of the creaminess with the toasted elotes flavour and a little chilli in the mix.

This is a delicious and easy snack that I like to put together for friends or family at the start of a meal, where we have time to catch up and enjoy a copita or two of mezcal while we share this tasty “botana” or snack.

This is the kind of summer that I long for, where the time is mostly spent with the people I love, around good fresh food and little giggling munchkins in the background .

Serves 2

Note: depending on how many people I prepare this for I duplicate or triplicate this recipe and either just serve this or also make flautas or feta cheese with pico de gallo. Especially nice when brought to the middle of the table for everyone to share.

Ingredients:

FOR THE TOTOPOS.

15 corn tortillas, cut intro triangles.

Note: stale tortillas work better for totopos.

1 1/2 cup of vegetable oil for frying.

TOASTED CORN.

1 tbsp olive oil.

4 spring onions, cut in half.

2 fresh corn on the cob, remove kernels.

1 tbsp butter.

1 lemon, juice.

TO SERVE.

1 burrata cheese.

1 arbol chilli, (quite spicy but adds loads of flavour).

Handful of fresh oregano leaves to garnish.

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

Maldon salt and freshly ground pepper to season.

Method:

1. First thing I do is to prepare my totopos. Heat up a frying pan with the vegetable oil until very hot, you know the oil is ready when you add a little piece of tortilla and begins to bubble away immediately.

2. Add a few tortillas at a time so to not overcrowd your pan, and fry until lovely and golden brown. Once ready remove carefully (with the help of a slotted spoon) and place your totopos over kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil. Once all your totopos are ready and while they are still warm add a pinch of maldon salt on top.

3. In another frying pan add a little bit of olive oil and the spring onions (whole), cook over a high heat . Also add the corn kernels and let them get toasted.

4. Once your spring onions get blackened remove them from the pan and with a sharp knife chop them roughly, once ready throw them back into the pan with the corn kernels, then add the lemon juice, butter, a pinch of salt, freshly ground black pepper, stir and taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, remove the toasted corn from the heat.

5. In a pretty platter serve half of your corn kernels and juices, then break the burrata on top and add the remaining corn.

6. Garnish with a crumbled chilli the arbol on top and add a few fresh oregano leaves, finally add a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and serve with the freshly made totopos on the side, enjoy!

Note: You can also use edible flowers such as pansies as garnish, their lovely grassy flavour goes beautifully with this botana.