Want to wow your guests? Make a Caprese Salad!
Caprese Salad is without a doubt one of the easiest and most impressive dishes you will ever make. It is so simple!
Because of the salad’s simplicity, you want to make sure your ingredients are top-notch. This isn’t the place to use out of season tomatoes, cheap olive oil and bargain mozzarella.
The ingredients need to stand on their own and should be of the highest quality.
Use the freshest ingredients you can find. I purchased these tomatoes that morning at a local Farmer’s Market. The basil I grew in a pot on my deck and the mozzarella came from a grocery store.
If you can find buffalo mozzarella, that would be preferred, it will give the salad an even more superior taste. I could not find buffalo milk cheese, this mozzarella is from cow’s milk.
Cut tomatoes and cheese into 1/4 inch slices. Remove basil leaves from stem of plant. Stack them together like a little green deck of cards. Roll into a cigar shape and cut into 1/4 ribbons.
On a serving platter, layer alternating slices of tomatoes and mozzarella. Sprinkle sliced basil over the tomatoes and mozzarella. Drizzle the salad with extra-virgin olive oil (balsamic vinegar, if using) and season with salt and pepper.
This salad is simplicity at its best!
- 3 vine-ripe tomatoes
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella
- Fresh basil leaves
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- Good quality balsamic vinegar or a balsamic reduction, for drizzling (optional)
- Coarse salt and pepper
- Cut tomatoes into ¼-inch thick slices
- Cut mozzarella into ¼-inch thick slices
- Pull leaves from approximately 1 basil bunch. Layer leaves and roll into a cigar shape. Slice rolled bunch at ¼ inch intervals.
- On a serving platter, layer alternating slices of tomatoes and mozzarella
- Sprinkle sliced basil over the tomatoes and mozzarella
- Drizzle the salad with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask and I will do my very best to answer.
Have you ever eaten or made Caprese Salad?
One of my favorites and one that proves again that pure and simple is always best. Took me a bit to learn to chiffonade the basil leaves like that but worth the effort. Now I can’t wait to try it as it has been quite awhile.
I agree Pat, pure and simple is always the best and this salad is the epitome of that! One of my favourite salads of summer!
Monica Parlee recently posted…Chocolate Chip Muffins
Wow, looks delicious and so fresh!!
Kathy this salad is so delicious made with garden fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden…YUM! You are so right, it is simple, but looks so delicious and fresh.
Monica Parlee recently posted…Chocolate Chip Muffins
I like mine with fudge