Four ingredients and almost no work. A summer starter that looks like a restaurant plated it.
This is a shopping recipe rather than a cooking one, get good tomatoes and good burrata and everything else is arranging. The balsamic goes on last, in a thin drizzle, so it sits on top rather than turning the plate murky.
Method
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Never refrigerate the tomatoes if you can help it, and take them out an hour beforehand if you have. Cold kills tomato flavour completely.
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Cut them into a mixture of wedges, slices and halves — varied shapes look far better on the plate than uniform ones.
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Spread the tomatoes over a large platter and season them with salt flakes. Leave for 5 minutes; the salt draws out juice that becomes part of the dressing.
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Tear the burrata open over the top, letting the cream run out into the tomato juices.
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Drizzle with the olive oil first, then the balsamic in a thin stream. Oil before vinegar, it coats the tomatoes and keeps the vinegar sitting on the surface where you can see it.
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Finish with basil and plenty of cracked pepper, and serve with bread for the juices.
Tips
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Tear the basil rather than chopping it. A knife bruises the leaves and they blacken.
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Add peaches or nectarines in summer, or thin slices of prosciutto for something more substantial.
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Assemble no more than ten minutes ahead.