I am always on the lookout for recipes with tomatillos because I love them but never quite know what to do with them besides make salsa verde, which I do from time to time for chicken enchiladas. It occurred to me that they could be used much like the fried green tomatoes of Southern gastronomy and, since L. loves both bruschetta and burrata, I came up with this recipe one day when we were desperate for an exciting snack.
I usually serve these as a starter (with a butter lettuce salad as textural contrast) but, when in possession of a ficelle rather than a baguette, it occured to me that these would make a slightly out of the ordinary canape as well. These are not delicate little pop-in-your-mouth mosels and, while they don't drip, they are definitely two-biter canapes so napkins should be provided accordingly.
Recipe
Makes 10 canapes
10 slices of ficelle (I made mine about 1/2 cm thick for canapes, thicker for the snack version)
10 slices (2-3 whole) tomatillos, husked, rinsed and thinly sliced. Discard the end pieces (or saved for salsa or salad); you want flat slices to make your bruschetta pretty.
2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 ball of burrata (or buffalo milk mozzarella with the outer layer removed - creamy is key here)
Golden balsamic or sherry vinegar
1 egg white
1/2 cup corn meal
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste
Put one tsp of the olive oil and the garlic cloves in a non-stick frying pan. Do not turn the heat on yet; let the garlic flavor infuse the oil.
Remove the end pieces of the burrata and cut the remainder into 10 pieces. Because you are the chef, eat the ends. Justify this by telling yourself that you need to know how salty the cheese is in order to season accordingly. Set the 10 pieces aside.
Place the eggwhite in a dish and beat lightly. Place the corn meal in another dish. Have an empty plate waiting. Roll each piece of tomatillo in the egg white and then in the corn meal. Roll well so that corn meal will adhere to the entire tomatillo slice but keep in mind that you want a uniform dusting not a thick batter. Put each finished tomatillo slice on the plate and set aside.
Turn the heat on low under the pan with the olive oil and garlic. As soon as the oil is hot, add the ficelle slices and cook on both sides until golden and crispy. Cooking time will very much depend on the thickness of your bread slices so hard to be exact about this. My 1/2 cm ficelle slices took 2 minutes on each side. Place the ficelle toasts on your serving dish.
Add the remaining oil to the pan that you cooked the bread in, which should still have the garlic cloves in it. As soon as the oil is hot, add the tomatillo slices. Again, cooking time will depend on the thickness of the tomatillo slices since you want them heated through. Keep an eye out for the corn coating which should be golden or golden brown. My timing came in as 2 minutes for the first side and a minute for the second.
While the tomatillos are cooking, place a piece of burrata on each ficelle toast. Sprinkle a few drops of vinegar on top of each piece of the burrata. Top with a tomatillo slice and enjoy. Salt if you feel that the cheese was not salty enough; I tend not to.
These taste best warm (rather than room temperature) but could be made in advance and kept in a slightly warm oven. I have never made them in advance and reheated them but can't imagine that doing that would change their texture too much unless you overcooked the tomatillo and it became mushy so keep an eye on oven time if you decide to go the reheating route. For a cocktail party you might be tempted to gild the lily and prettify these canapes with a leaf of parsley or a thin slice of red pepper for color but I highly discourage this. I like pretty as much as the next person but these canapes need no taste additions - decorate your platter instead if you feel the urge to beautify.