Market Recipe: Stone Fruit Salad with Burrata and Arugula Pesto

The patio at Mar’sel.

If you’re looking to go on vacation, and you only have a few hours. This is your answer. (Hint: Look left.)

That is the patio at Mar’sel, the signature restaurant at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes. Yes it’s a hotel, but you don’t have to be a guest to eat there. For some R&R you can spend a leisurely brunch on the patio at Mar’sel and then stroll along the cliffs and down to the beach to help digest all that champagne.

My first visit to Terrenea was a few weeks ago. Until then I thought of it more as a destination wedding venue than a brunch destination – but the food is excellent. There was a smoked fish plate that I still salivate over and the restaurant’s burger was just voted one of the top 10 in the US by Food and Wine’s Restaurant Editor, Kate Krader. And like any restaurant that is worth its salt, Executive Sous Chef Michael Fiorelli shops weekly at the Santa Monica Farmers Market. So we met up with Fiorelli this week at the market to hear what he’s shopping for.

Stone fruit, of course, was at the top of his list. At Mar’sel, he pairs it with burrata cheese and arugula pesto. Listen to his interview with Laura Avery in the second half of the Market Report below and keep reading for his recipe.

Stone Fruit Salad with Burrata and Arugula Pesto

6 pieces stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, plums) pit removed and cut in six wedges each

6 Tbsp arugula pesto (recipe follows)

12 ounces burrata cheese

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp Fresh cracked black pepper

Toss the stone fruit pieces with the olive oil, vinegar, sea salt and cracked pepper. Using a spoon, distribute the pesto evenly among four plates. Start with a spoon full in the center of the plate and spread out to a thin circle about the size of a baseball. Evenly distribute the dressed stone fruit on top of the pesto. Top each salad with equal parts of burrata cheese. Finish with a light drizzle of olive oil and a little more cracked black pepper.

Serves 4

Arugula Pesto

½ cup arugula

½ cup basil

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

¼ cup roasted garlic cloves

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until fully incorporated, about 2 minutes.

Makes 1 ½ cups

Recipes courtesy of Executive Sous Chef Michael Fiorelli and Chef de Cuisine Rebecca Merhej, mar’sel at Terranea Resort