Eating a caprese salad is like eating the Italian flag. You have got the colours of the flag and some of the high quality ingredients Italy is known for in many of its traditional dishes. II will show you in this blogpost how to make a caprese salad. It’s not difficult, but there are a few small tips and tricks that make it easier and elevate this dish to restaurant level.
Ingredients
A classic caprese salad has only 3 ingredients: tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil. It’s important to choose the right ingredients, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend cutting costs here, as it will impact the overall result.
Tomatoes
Use ripe tomatoes for this recipe. Red beefsteak tomatoes, like Costoluto Genovese, are a great choice. They have plenty of flesh, so they hold their shape even when it’s thinly sliced, and they have a strong natural sweetness that pairs well with the other ingredients. You can recognize them by their ribbed shape. They are usually quite large, which makes them perfect for a caprese.
Bradley tomatoes also work well. They are slightly smaller and more evenly round. Try to avoid Roma tomatoes, also known as plum tomatoes. They are great for sauces, but too juicy for this recipe and tend to fall apart.
Mozzarella
Make sure to use high quality mozzarella. Cheaper versions can be more rubbery and chewy because of shortcuts in the production process, like using too much acid or heat instead.
As much as I love burrata, I wouldn’t recommend using it here. It’s too soft and will fall apart.
Fresh Basil
The bigger the leaves, the stronger the flavour. Large leaves give the dish a nice kick. Smaller leaves work too, but avoid dried basil, it tastes completely different and won’t give the same fresh result.
Good as It Is
If you follow the tips above and use good ingredients, you will end up with a solid, classic caprese salad. Simply finish it with a bit of high quality olive oil and a few sea salt flakes.
If you want to give it a twist, you can make it the way I do in the video.
In the video, I added dried thyme, though fresh thyme is even better. I also added toasted pine nuts for a bit of crunch and a touch of balsamic glaze for extra flavour.
Hope you like this recipe as much as I do! Buon appetito. Love caprese? Check out my caprese laugenstange recipe here. In love with the Italian cuisine? Click here.
Caprese Salad
Adjust servings here:
Equipment
- frying pan
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes
- 2 mozzarella
- 8 leaves fresh basil
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- balsamic glaze
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add the pine nuts and toast until brown. Do not use olive oil. Set aside to cool down.
- Clean and cut the tomatoes crosswise.
- Cut the mozzarella in thin slices.
- Arrange the tomato slices in a circle on a large plate, leave some space between each slice.
- Place the mozzarella slices between the tomato slices.
- Sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze in zigzag lines over the plate.
- Add fresh basil leaves and the roasted pine nuts.
- Finish with a bit of salt and pepper
Enjoy!
