Caprese Salad with Mozzarella and Tomatoes

Salad (Italian: Insalata Caprese) is a traditional light salad with mozzarella and tomatoes of Italian cuisine. Essentially the food is simple but incredibly delicious. The classic Caprese recipe uses traditional ingredients: red tomatoes, soft mozzarella cheese, extra virgin olive oil, basil leaves. The dish comes from Capri, a small island off the coast of Naples. It appeared on the culinary scene in the early 20s of the last century to satisfy the exacting tastes of members of the royal family and influential politicians vacationing on the resort island. The design of the salad was patriotic, inspired by the Italian national flag. Coarsely chopped red tomatoes, white mozzarella, green basil leaves are neatly laid out, giving the appetizer an alternation of green-white-red, reproducing the panels of the national flag of Italy. Thanks to such a culinary imitation of the state symbol, ease of preparation, amazing flavor combination of products, the Naples Caprese has become the national culinary hallmark of Italy.

Throughout its history, Caprese has received many interpretations that often outrage true Italian culinary specialists. They do not accept the use of balsamic vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, arugula, and finely chopped ingredients in the preparation.

Classic, regular Caprese is considered a seasonal summer food, characterized by a natural taste, aroma of quality natural products. For its preparation, ripe, plum-shaped tomatoes are used - red, juicy, fragrant, but not too soft, preferably unchilled, warm from the sun. Hand-torn basil leaves should be fresh, fragrant, grown in the sun, not in a greenhouse. An important requirement is good quality soft young mozzarella cheese. Ideally, one should take the true variety Mozzarella di Bufala from the Naples region, which has a pleasant, delicate taste of buffalo milk. But this cheese is expensive even in Italy. For Russian buyers, it is practically inaccessible. For the dish, real cold-pressed olive oil is taken, the best that you can afford. Unfortunately, natural high-quality products are not available to urban residents, therefore, to give the salad a bright taste when preparing caprese, additives that are not traditional for the classic recipe are often used.

For the preparation of the classic version of Caprese salad, it is recommended to use the true mozzarella from the tender milk of Mozzarella di Bufala buffaloes from the Naples region. However, even Italians successfully replace this expensive cheese with mozzarella made from cow's milk. The size of the cheese balls does not really matter, only affecting the way they are cut. Small cheese balls can be used whole without cutting. When choosing cheese, it is important to give preference to a quality, fresh product.

Caprese refers to a variety of Italian antipasti dishes that are served before the main course - naturally Italian pasta. Because of the characteristic serving before meals, Caprese salad on the Russian table was called an appetizer. Preparing a Mediterranean salad appetizer is extremely simple. The recipe does not contain exotic ingredients, complex techniques, does not require professional skills. In the classic version of the mozzarella dish, the tomatoes are cut into discs of moderate thickness (6-7 mm), usually laid out in alternating, overlapping layers for showiness on the dish. For the dish, medium, fleshy circles of tomatoes are taken. The outer layers are not suitable. The layered ingredients are topped with fresh, spicy green basil leaves. Salt is added 5-10 minutes before serving, freshly ground pepper for spiciness, sprinkled with cold-pressed olive oil. Caprese should not sit in olive oil for long periods of time. So it becomes damp, loses its taste.

Salad with mozzarella is prepared from plum-shaped oblong red tomatoes. The fruits should be ripe, fragrant, elastic. It is ideal to take unrefrigerated tomato fruits from the garden that store the heat of the sun. Tomatoes from the store should be preheated to room temperature. Often, plum tomatoes are replaced with ripe cherry fruits.

Various interpretations of the dish suggest replacing basil leaves with spicy arugula or oregano. Fresh thinly sliced cucumbers, avocados, sweet bell peppers, capers, olives, green onions are added to the ingredients. Seasoned with balsamic vinegar, mustard sauce, walnut pesto sauce. Ingredients are cut smaller or larger than traditional serving, discs or slices. All variations of snacks have their fans and supporters. Let's start our acquaintance with the national Italian antipasti dish by studying the classic recipe.

Caprese salad - a classic recipe

The main ingredients of the appetizer salad are ripe, red plum tomatoes, quality, fresh mozzarella cheese, green basil leaves, extra virgin oil. The dish is seasoned with salt, fresh ground pepper - red or black to taste. The whole cooking process is extremely simple: it consists of slicing tomatoes, mozzarella and their subsequent styling. Tomato and cheese slices are laid out in layers in various ways: separately lying disks, overlapping layers, are made out like an accordion or a cheese and vegetable skewers on a skewer. The photo shows various options for laying out for filing.

Ingredients

Mozzarella cheese - 150 g
Medium plum tomatoes - 5 pcs
Green basil leaves - 50 g
Unrefined extra virgin olive oil - 3 tbsp. l.
Salt - to taste
Ground pepper - to taste

Caprese salad - a classic cooking recipe

Rinse the tomatoes thoroughly with water, dry. Carefully cut with a sharp knife into circles 6-7 mm thick. We set aside the extreme (lower, upper) disks. Only meaty tomato circles are suitable. The skin does not need to be removed before cooking.
Remove mozzarella balls from brine. We cut balls with a diameter comparable to the size of tomatoes into disks 6-7 mm thick. Small cheese balls are cut into 2-4 parts or laid out whole.
We spread the prepared discs in layers on a dish: on tomato cheese discs. The traditional layout involves overlapping interleaved disks. It is also possible to lay out in separate lying portions, design an appetizer in the form of a tomato accordion stuffed with cheese or a cheese-tomato skewers.
Arrange green basil leaves on top or between disks.
5-10 minutes before serving, salt the dish, pepper, sprinkle with unrefined olive oil. The dish should not be infused before consumption. With prolonged soaking with olive oil, it becomes damp, loses its taste.

Salad with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes is prepared according to the classic recipe with only one difference: plum-shaped tomato fruits are replaced with cherry tomatoes. The rest of the ingredients are the same. Cherries are cut in half or laid out whole. Large cheese balls are cut into slices or slices, small ones are laid out as a whole.

Arugula and mozzarella salad is prepared as a variation of the classic recipe, in which basil leaves are replaced with spicy arugula greens. Embossed leaves of arugula will give the appetizer salad a new taste, original appearance. The proportions of the ingredients are taken according to the classic recipe. Plum tomatoes can be successfully replaced with cherry tomatoes for a change.

Caprese with Pesto

This interpretation of the famous appetizer salad involves the use of the popular Italian pesto sauce as an additional ingredient. Pesto plays the role of olive oil for lubricating lined tomatoes, cheese slices, basil leaves. Pesto sauce is bought ready-made or prepared independently at home. There are many variations of the common sauce. Here is a classic recipe. We will prepare the sauce using a blender. Traditionally, the sauce is prepared in a mortar. With a blender, the process is greatly simplified and accelerated.