Caprese Salad is a Mediterranean salad consisting of fresh buffalo Mozzarella cheese, Tomatoes, fresh Italian Basil and Olive Oil
Learn more about the Caprese salad and how to make it further below in the post:
Caprese Salad makes me happy.
It transforms my mood the moment I allow the tomato mozzarella basil and olive oil to gently glide off the fork onto my excited tongue.
I can feel the happiness in my cheeks with each bite and to soak up the remaining olive oil with some white crust bread is just the pinnacle of my blissful moment.
My husband was mesmerized by the flavors the moment he was introduced to it.
He describes it as: “Very refreshing and the perfect lunch during summer time”.
He also describes the tomato mozzarella and basil as a brilliant food marriage and the olive oil completes the dish. Sounds promising right?
What is the Caprese Salad?
Caprese Salad, Insalata Caprese in Italian, means salad from Capri, which is an Italian island.
The green white and red of the ingredients represent the Italian flag in the Caprese Salad.
Green for the basil, White for the buffalo mozzarella and red for the tomato.
Caprese Salad Ingredients
Mozzarella
Use only fresh Buffalo Mozzarella not the processed mozzarella cheese which is used on pizzas and which looks like cheddar.
Soft fresh buffalo mozzarella is turned into a ball and then kept in brine.
Usually, the soft mozzarella can be stored for a few days in the fridge and packets have always an expiry date.
Just earlier today, while doing my groceries, an Italian explained that the mozzarella balls are still good 3 days after expiry date if it was stored in a very cool fridge.
Basil
Basil, also known as Italian Basil, should be available wherever you are. I used to grow my own basil at home, you can do that too in your kitchen.
Don’t use Thai Basil or Holy Basil (Tulsi). The taste is different.
Tomato
Pick a juicy red tomato variety. I prefer always homegrown tomatoes because they tend to be more flavorful.
You can also get cocktail tomatoes and half them. That works great with smaller mozzarella balls of the same size.
More Salad & Dressing ideas:
Dear Reader, do you get good quality fresh Mozzarella balls in your corner of the world?
Italian Caprese Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Tomatoes medium
- 1 Buffalo Mozzarella
- 1 Tablespoon Italian Basil sliced
- Salt to taste
- Black Pepper to taste
- dash Olive Oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Slice your tomatoes.
- Cut open the mozzarella cheese bag, discard all the water, shake off some liquid from the cheese ball and cut first into half and then into slices.
- Arrange the mozzarella cheese slices and tomato slices in a plate, top with the sliced fresh basil leafs and sprinkle some salt and pepper.
- Finnish by adding a dash of olive oil on top.
- Best served and enjoyed cooled during the hot summer months.
