Caprese Salad

I’ve been a little obsessed with caprese salad recently, so when I saw beautiful heirloom tomatoes and burrata cheese at the grocery store, I knew I had to make my own.

Like most salads, I’m not going to write a “recipe” but rather, give you some tips to make your homemade caprese salads every bit as delicious as the ones you get out at fancy restaurants.

First of all, let’s talk Ingredients

Caprese is a simple salad with just a handful of ingredients, so its really only best to make it when you have access to the good stuff. Most importantly – delicious tomatoes. Caprese with hard, flavorless, un-ripe tomatoes is a very sad thing indeed, so use the most flavorful ones you can find.

Once your tomatoes are chosen, its time to contemplate the cheese. Fresh mozzarella slices are classic, and I have nothing against them, but I find the perfect caprese allows you to get a little bit of everything easily in one bite. Large discs of fresh mozzarella don’t always lend themselves to easy eating, so I tend to lean to burrata (which is fresh mozzarella surrounding a cream-enriched oozy center) or little bocconcini (those baby mozzarella balls).

With the two main ingredients in hand, there’s just the accompaniments. In my mind you need: fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt & pepper. You really don’t need anything else, but you should feel free to add whatever your heart desires. I’ve had delicious plays on caprese that add olives, watermelon, grilled peaches, avocado, micro greens, arugula… the list goes on and on.

Assembly

Caprese is an assembled salad, so there are just a couple of things you want to be mindful of. First, you need less balsamic than you think you do. I like to drizzle it only over the tomatoes. Second, I prefer everything be in bite sized pieces. As I mentioned above, the perfect bite has a little of everything in it. While I enjoy the classic presentation of large tomato and mozzarella slices, its never as easy or delicious as when everything is cut to fit easily into one big bite. So if you find gorgeous, large, beefsteak tomatoes, cut those babies down into attractive little wedges and help yourself out.

From there, it really isn’t rocket science. Put down your tomatoes and cheese, and garnish with the accompaniments. Not only is it dead simple to make at home, but even if you go all out and buy the fanciest cheese and tomatoes you can find, its still way cheaper than getting caprese out at a restaurant. Thats a win-win to me!