The Flying Kitchen

Named after the Capri Islands in Italy and in the colors of the Italian flag; the Caprese salad is one of the most popular "insalata" in Italy and around the world. It's so easy to put together you don't really need a recipe. I've typed this recipe up for your convenience just in case you'd like to print it out as a reminder for later - and to show you the quantities I used to make this large salad that serves 6-8 people as a side dish.

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Heirloom tomatoes make a stunning caprese salad! All you’ll need are a few tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, olive oil and salt and pepper.

Caprese Salad

Named after the Capri Islands in Italy and in the colors of the Italian flag; the Caprese salad is one of the most popular "insalata" in Italy and around the world. It's so easy to put together you don't really need a recipe. I've typed this recipe up for your convenience just in case you'd like to print it out as a reminder for later – and to show you the quantities I used to make this large salad that serves 6-8 people as a side dish.

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Servings 6

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 tablespoons olive oil more or less
• 2 balls fresh mozzarella
• 6-8 small (plum sized) fresh tomatoes Roma tomatoes are nice in this salad, but so are Campari. Just find the most fragrant and delicious tomatoes you can.
• 2-3 bunches fresh basil leaves (stems removed) (large handfulls)
• 1 pinch salt don't overdo the salt
• 2 pinches fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

 

• Prepare a nice serving platter by drizzling olive oil on it – about 1 tablespoon.
• Slice the tomatoes and the fresh mozzarella and pluck the leaves of the basil off the stems.
• Your goal here is to alternate the red and white of the tomatoes and mozzarella (evenly) in whichever fashion you think will look best on your platter.
• Tuck in the basil leaves between the red and white of the tomatoes and mozzarella. I've never had a Caprese that had too much basil, so don't worry about overdoing it.
• Drizzle olive oil over the whole platter and add the salt and pepper last.
• It's really best if you serve this within a couple hours of making it as the basil leaves will wilt.

Video

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