I love tomato season– nothing makes me happier at the store than to find tomatoes that smell like they are just off the vine. It’s a rare thing, but unless you can smell them, you won’t taste much. I’ve been spoiled though, because my dad grew tomatoes and basil at home. They’re always best right after they have been picked, but I’ve found some pretty good substitutions at Eataly (a local store). Combine that with their delicious buffala mozzarella or even better, their burrata….mmmm. Capri is unbelievably beautiful and they sure know how to make a salad.
Caprese Salad
1 tomato, sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices
6-8 basil leaves
1 ball mozzarella or burrata, sliced the same thickness as the tomato
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon good balsamic vinegar
flaked sea salt like Maldon
Layer the tomato and mozzarella slices with the basil leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and sprinkle with some sea salt. That’s it!
Love the look of this! Yummy.
Love Caprese Salad. You take beautiful photos.
We won’t see our best local tomatoes for four more months here in the SF Bay Area. They are dry-farmed early girls by Dirty Girl Farms – and after having these, we have pretty much given up eating any other tomatoes, except cooked ones. I really like to use mozzarella di buffala for a caprese – also add teensy bits of anchovy, or capers, or in a bountiful mood, both. I have never used vinegar on mine, and will have to try it. Thanks!
Have you ever tried the caprese without capers or anchovy? If you have really good quality buffel mozzarella and tomatoes served at room temperature, just using good quality extra virgin olive oil, basil, and salt will suffice to make the flavors stand out. I hardly ever use balsamic on Caprese, only the expensive artisan type sometimes.
I usually don’t use it but I had some nice balsamic and I wanted to throw it in since I have a cold and I’m having trouble tasting lighter flavors this weekend….
Hope you’ll feel better soon!
Thanks!!
Looks very nice and shows the essence of Italian cooking: using a small number of good-quality ingredients to create something wonderful!
The only thing I would add is to make sure the tomatoes and the mozzarella are served at room temperature.
I never put tomatoes in the fridge because they lose flavor, so they’re always at room temperature.
You are absolutely right about keeping tomatoes at room temperature. I assumed you were serving the tomatoes and mozzarella at room temperature, but since you didn’t write this specifically I thought I’d point it out for your other readers. Especially mozzarella is often served too cold and thus tasteless since unlike tomatoes it’s mostly kept in the refrigerator.
I wish we could get good tomatoes in April, but it’s physically impossible here so I have to wait til summer for caprese salad. I do love it though! Beautiful photos!! My mother makes caprese with huge striped orange tomatoes that she grows… I wish I could get them to grow here….
Simplicity at its best, a classic salad I love!
A friend brought this salad to a pot luck party with an awesome addition: avocado and I have been making it that way ever since.Put the avocado slice in between the tomato and mozzarella. I have also made it appetizer friendly using very small Bocconcini, cherry tomato, chunk of avocado and a small leaf of basil all on a toothpick and then marinated in Paul Newman’s Balsamic Vinaigrette. Yum!
A friend brought this salad to a pot luck party with an awesome addition: avocado! I have been making it this way ever since, placing the avocado slice between the tomato and mozzarella. I also make an appetizer friendly version with very small mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, small chunks of avocado and a small leaf of basil, all marinated in Newman’s Own Balsamic Vinaigrette. Yum!
This is my favorite meal in the summer time!
I love Caprese Salad. One of my favorites… very lite and refreshing. Nice plating as always.
I love Caprese salad and your pics!!
Love this caprese salad! Sounds so good right now!