Caprese (Italian: Insalata Caprese meaning “Salad of Capri”) is a simple Italian salad made of sliced fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, seasoned with salt and olive oil. It was made to resemble the colors of the Italian flag.
During the summer and especially during an Ottawa heat wave I can eat a Caprese salad daily for either lunch or dinner. There are some variations you can make to this salad, you can add garlic, lettuce, different herbs, and various dressings. I try to stay classic with a few tweaks here and there.
This salad takes 5 mins to prep and is delish!
INGREDIENTS
3-4 ripe tomatoes. I use red vine ripe tomatoes and kumato tomatoes. Kumato tomatoes are usually reddish brown to purple and I find them sweeter than regular tomatoes. Delish!
A Handful of basil, I use regular sweet basil and Tuscan basil
Fresh mozzarella sliced thinly
Raddichio sliced very thin
Olive oil ( I used basil olive oil) and fig balsamic vinegar
Maldon salt and freshly cracked pepper
To assemble get a large platter. Spread out the raddichio on the bottom. Raddichio adds a nice bite to the salad, if you can’t find it feel free to use mâché, endive or arugula.
Lay the sliced tomatoes ontop of the raddichio. Top with fresh mozzarella slices, torn basil and the oil and balsamic. Just before serving sprinkle with Maldon salt and freshly cracked pepper.
For a spin on the salad, assemble the ingredients on a skewer instead for a cocktail party. Use grape tomatoes and boccoccini cheese instead.
Mangia!
