A caprese salad can take many forms, but the basic foundation is so quick and easy. We have some variation practically every week throughout the summer, especially once our own tomatoes start coming in.
There’s really no right or wrong way to do it. You can slice the tomatoes thick or thin, big or small. Just try and keep the mozzarella size consistent with the tomato size. So if you use large tomatoes and slice them into rounds, try to slice your mozzarella into a similar thickness.
The basic components are:
Tomato
Mozzarella
Fresh Basil
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
To build your salad:
- Slice the tomatoes.
- If they’re grape/cherry tomatoes you can leave them whole or just slice them in half.
- Slice the mozzarella. I like to use the large fresh mozzarella balls for larger tomatoes, and ciliegine for the grape/cherry tomatoes.
- Roll the basil up and slice it into ribbons (also called “chiffonade”).
- Drizzle with olive oil.
- Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper.
- I also like adding balsamic glaze if I have some lying around (Trader Joe’s sells a good one).
- Avocado and a little bit of cilantro is yummy to add as well.
If you are able to, let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving so that all the flavors can meld together.
