Burrata & Blistered Tomatoes
Creamy burrata over warm blistered cherry tomatoes, basil, olive oil, flaky salt, and black pepper. Five minutes of work that looks like a restaurant did it. Prosciutto ribbons on the side for the carnivores.
The host's playbook
Host the dinner.
Skip the carbs.
The best keto dinner party is the one nobody identifies as keto — just candles, laughter, and three courses that happen to contain zero apology bread. Here's the complete blueprint: the menu, the clock, and the manners.
See the menuThe Clock
Guests at seven. Work backward.
- Day beforeMake the gratin to the pre-bake stage. Macerate nothing yet. Set the table tonight — future you will weep with gratitude.
- 3:00 pmChicken out of the fridge, salted, air-drying. Herb butter made. One episode of something as a reward.
- 5:00 pmChicken in the oven. Berries macerating. Whip the cream and park it in the fridge.
- 6:15 pmGratin into the oven beside the chicken. Blister the tomatoes. Change shirts — you smell like victory and butter.
- 6:55 pmChicken resting under foil (it needs 20 minutes; this is the secret). Plate the burrata. Light the candles.
- 7:00 pmDoor opens. Drink in every guest's hand within four minutes — the cocktail playbook is at ketococktail.party.
Table Rules
- Don't say the k-word. It's not a keto dinner; it's dinner. Announce diets and people inspect plates; serve chicken and people ask for seconds.
- Abundance beats explanation. Three fats, two textures, one showpiece per course, and nobody audits the starch.
- Bread station, optional. A basket at the far end for the unconverted costs you nothing and buys total cover.
- The host eats too. Sit down. The kitchen is closed. A frazzled host is the only thing guests actually notice.