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 of 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?
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But I had forgotten about the Caprese salad in recent times. With all the Indian food around me I tend to think more about Asian food.
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.
The salad doesn’t just look good, it even tastes phenomenal. It’s fresh and will give you the right comfort level in a hotter climate. In fact I think it’s the perfect salad to get through the Indian summer for example.
All those still battling ice cold and snow in the world, should make it anyway too. It will remind you of summer and get you into the mood for the following sunnier months to come!
In India you can get hold of fresh buffalo mozzarella and also the harder version. Of course to find this cheese you will have to check out bigger stores or some online shops.
In Goa around the coastline, fresh and harder Mozzarella can be commonly found and you should be getting a choice too as well if you buy during the tourist season. The idea of making Italian mozzarella in Goa commercially was initiated about 10 years ago by Italians in Goa.
In recent times I have noticed South Indian companies producing mozzarella as well and the numbers are always increasing. It’s not surprising that mozzarella cheese is so popular because it’s quite versatile.
The soft fresh white 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. Although of course the fresher the better but sometimes it’s just not easy to get a hand on the freshest mozzarella in Goa. Especially now when the tourist season is at an end.
The harder Mozzarella version is more yellow in color and is commonly used to top pizza and on layered lasagna. This variation is way more common in India, however the harder mozzarella is not used in the Caprese salad instead of the soft mozzarella.
Basil, also known as Italian Basil, should be available in all major Indian cities and in Goa in bigger markets and along the coastline. I used to grow my own basil at home, which by the way grows well in tropical and subtropical climate. The seeds are planted around September each year. Basil doesn’t survive the monsoon which is the difference to the Indian Basil, better known as Tulsi. I think you should be able to grow basil in a flat if you have enough sunlight coming in. If anybody has had experience growing basil in a flat in India, feel free to share your experience with us in a comment.
Simple Caprese Salad – Italian Tomato Mozzarella Basil Olive Oil Insalate – How to make Caprese Salad below:
- 3 medium sized Tomatoes
- 1 Mozzarella Cheese ball
- 1 Tablespoon sliced fresh Basil leafs
- Salt according to your taste
- Pepper according to your taste
- dash Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Slice your tomatoes fine.
- 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.
More Salad & Dressing ideas:
- Greek Salad
- Kidney Bean Salad with Vinaigrette
- Surimi Salad with Curry Mayo Dressing
- Couscous Paneer Salad with Lemon Dressing
- Lemon Yogurt Dressing
- Wild Flower salad with Pumpkin Seed Oil Dressing
- Quail Eggs Salad
- Iceberg Salad with Thousand Island Dressing
More Appetizer and Amuse Bouche for the Gourmand in you:
Stuffed Baked Potatoes with mushroom and ham
Dear Reader, do you get good quality fresh Mozzarella balls in your corner of the world?
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Fresh and delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
Great salad, and I love the presentation. We can get great mozzarella here, too. But it’s too early for tomatoes and basil from my garden. But in a few months, this will be on our table! Really nice — thanks.
So glad to found your beautiful Caprese salad , Helen! This is so funny, we all created something delicious with tomato, basil and mozzarella this weekend. How wonderful for you to be able to experience life in Goa. We have many friends form India from the Pune region and they often tell us about their vacation to the scenic coast of Goa.
J+C
Oh this speaks of summer! I can’t wait to have fresh tomatoes and make this.
This is by far one of my favourite summer salads and if I see it on a menu, I will almost always order it. Except when tomatoes are out of season and they taste like nothing, it is infuriating to see it on a menu out of season. The combinations you mention are exquisite and satisfy the emotional hunger as well as the physical hunger. It’s nice to know you can find this cheese in Goa; my friend John (from the Bartolini Kitchens) made soft mozzarella some time ago, I haven’t tried making it yet but will sometime soon.
When the ingredients are fresh, I swear there is no better salad than this. It looks beautiful on that plate, Helene.
I’m in love with how fresh it looks and such a delicious dish 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I have had something very similar to this, but not with the love put into it that you have. Beautiful presentation, and I am sure it tastes even better! Perfect summer afternoon appetizer. Thanks for sharing 🙂
so simple but so delicious and so fresh and screams spring
Delightfully refreshing combination of flavors – makes me long for summer more! 🙂
I didn’t know you could get fresh mozzarella in Goa? Is it from the Indian buffaloes?
I don’t know since I couldn’t find a way to contact the dairy I am buying from. But I know an Italian lady who was one of the first to make mozzarella here and she told me that they used the milk from Indian buffalos and also from cows.
Sorry! I should have have read your post a little closer. It waw self explanatory.
oh that’s alright, glad you asked. =)
Hey Helene!
Beautiful photos. I agree with you. Something so ordinary to us might be totally new to someone else. I am super crazy about tomatoes but I’ve never had Caprese Salad before! So, thanks for sharing this 🙂
yummy, tempting salad..
What a lovely presentation!
Ciao Helene, sono contenta che una ricetta italiana ti ha resa felice e che tu riesca a trovare la mozzarella anche in India! Un grande saluto
M.G.
I can’t wait for summer and fresh tomatoes. I’ve made mozzarella a couple of time. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t find that it was a lot better than I could buy so I haven’t made it again.
This is the salad that definitely says it’s summer to me.
I agree, this is the ultimate summer food, sadly we have a few more months to go before this delicious salad reappears in our lunch and dinner plates—tomatoes this time of year are so bland and mealy they actually gross me out. I usually serve oven dried tomatoes in this recipe during our winter. Such beautiful photos too.
Love basil, growing Sweet Basil, makes great Pesto. I have been growing basil in a pot here in State of Gujarat in India. Have been regularly fertilizing using Goat poop. Too bad can’t find fresh mozzarella in my neck of the woods!
Hi Nilesh,
really goat poop as fertilizer? That’s interesting. When do you plant your basil seeds? That’s a pity that you are not getting mozzarella in your corner of Gujarat. I think retail market will be selling those sooner or later. We have lots of cheese choice for the past 4 years now in Goa and I think the cheese market is gradually expanding in India, which is good. 🙂
This combination was made in heaven.