One of my favorite restaurants in Los Angeles is Mercato di Vetro – the design is fantastic, the atmosphere celebratory and the food inventive. My sister and I went there for the first time a few years ago – we sat at the bar {as we are want to do}, ate and drank our way through nearly every item on the menu, and everything tasted incredible. It was one of those wonderfully memorable meals where everything falls into place – the place electric with a contagious energy, the bartender charming, the food delicious – and we had a ball. The dish that stands out in my memory most saliently were the roasted grapes, which were served with fresh Burrata and balsamic syrup. The roasted grapes enchanted me – through the roasting process, they became slightly burnished, some bursting on the vine, their sweetness intensifying until they are lost in some delicious purgatory between grapes and raisins. Extraordinary.
A few weeks ago, when our dear friends Antonella and Brad came over for cocktail hour before dinner out, I suddenly remembered this dish. I served the roasted grapes alongside luscious fresh Burrata from Cowgirl Creamery {which I drizzled with a balsamic syrup for a contrasting edge}, grilled bread and wild arugula – a slightly unconventional but delicious cheese plate. So delicious in fact that I served it again the very next night when our lovely friends Lindsay and Howie came over for dinner and a movie. I think it will soon become a regular fixture on our cocktail hour menu rotation.
Recipes continued after the jump…
Recipes
Roasted grapes
- 1 large bunch red grapes
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fleur de sel or sea salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- Fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to 425°F. Rinse grapes and dry thoroughly and carefully with paper towels to keep the grapes intact on the stem as much as possible. Brush grapes delicately with olive oil to evenly coat. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme. Place in oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until desired consistency is achieved.
Balsamic syrup
- 1/4 c. good quality balsamic vinegar
Put balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook, allowing the mixture to bubble, until reduced by half and the consistency is syrupy and thick.
To serve, I drizzled the balsamic syrup and some extra virgin olive oil over the Burrata cheese {with a sprinkling of fleur de sel}, and served with the roasted grapes, toasted bread {I brushed slices of baguette with olive oil and grilled them in my grill pan}, prosciutto {if desired} and arugula.
Beautiful!! I absolutely adore roasted grapes and with the burrata, delicious!
Thank you! xo
Gorge! That was such a fun night, thanks for reminding me. I really need to get myself a grill pan – the bread is so much more attractive than when broiled.
Thanks Bodes – it was such a fun night – I will always love that place because of how much fun we had that first night! I really like the Le Crueset grill pan I have…It’s pricey, but I think will last forever…
I have wanted to try roasting grapes! Is there a particular type of red grape that works best? 🙂
Thanks for stopping by! I used red flame grapes, and I thought they worked very well. Hope that helps!
thanks, will give them a go 🙂
Love the twist on presenting grapes, they look very appealing. I can imagine they are divine with the cheese and balsamic. Thanks for a new alternative addition to cheeseboard .
Thanks! I am such a fan of cheese plates, but sometimes you just want a little something to shake them up a bit! 🙂
Elegantly delicious 🙂
Thank you!
Gorgeous pictures! I want to go reach in the screen and eat this! 🙂
Thank you! It was delicious, and oh so easy to throw together! 🙂
O M G! Wow…. that look so elegant and just beautiful. I adore burrata and I love how you paired this with roasted grapes, arugula and of course, crusty grilled bread. That is a plate of beauty Lindsay. xo!
Thank you Anne – you always have the most encouraging comments! xo
Lovely combination of flavours there. Brilliantly presented too!
Thank you Phil!
Very interesting recipe ! I like eating grapes as a fruit, but only recently got in mind to use them in cooking savoury dishes. This sounds like a happy medium which I love too ! Nonetheless I doubt if I could find such red grapes here in France… Anyway, thanks for sharing !
Thank you Helena. Are red grapes impossible to find in France? I didn’t realize that…are the green varieties the only ones available?
I think I did not express myself properly : red grapes are actually available too, but they’re rather dark purple than brilliant red like yours, which is for more attractive in my opinion !
But I have to admit that we don’t have much choice of fruits and vegetables where I live…
Oh got it! I would think that the darker purple grapes would work well also. I admit that we are rather spoiled in California in that all varieties of produce seem available year round! 🙂
How lucky you are ! Thanks for the advice about doing it with purple grapes. I was thinking about it anyway, I feel it should turn out good too 😉
What a fantastic idea. I have friends that love when I make a cheese plater…they will love this. Great photos as always.
Thank you Karen! Cheese plates are such a simple go-to for cocktail hour in our house – but sometimes, you want to add a little something unpredictable to the usual cast of characters! 🙂
I was just talking with my husband about your roasted grapes yesterday…they will definitely be on our next cheese tray.
Oh how exciting – let me know what you both think about how they turn out! xo
What a great combination of flavors!
Thank you!
Reblogged this on Haute Mom Living and commented:
It’s going to be my next adventure in the kitchen once i get the energy back from this nasty col and do it!
Thank you for reblogging! 🙂
I LOVE your blog and as a fellow blogger, and a new one at that I figured I would pass the word onto my following, small but growing! You do a beautiful job , do you mind me asking, how do you take such beautiful photos of your foods? I’m trying and my def. look home made , but I like how yours looks so professional!
So kind of you to say! I am by no means a professional! 🙂 I have never been properly trained about how to use my DSLR, but I just like to mess around with it. I think the secret is a 50 mm lens – it is the only lens I use now, and I just love the results. And it’s quite inexpensive, as far as lenses go – about $100. Good (natural) lighting is key too! I find, at least in my house, that the best lighting is late afternoon lighting. I absolutely should take a class one of these days and figure out how to use all the various settings on my camera more than I do now – I am using abut 5% of its potential! 🙂 Hope that helps!
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Oh my goodness! Could this possibly be a more perfect lunch?! I’m salivating.
Thank you Sam – and thanks so much for stopping by! xo