Another Name for Tomatoes, Mozzarella, and Basil Salad or Caprese Salad

Insalata Caprese is the fancy gourmet name for tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, a dish I eat all summer long after the fresh local tomatoes are ready. Now I find out the Reluctant Gourmet is preparing them all wrong.

I was first told I was making them wrong by Connie Devlin, the mother of one of my wife's close friends, Susan Devlin. Connie, of Italian descent, possibly makes the best meatballs I've ever tasted. During a weekend visit to Susan's home in New Jersey, we were preparing Insalata Caprese for a dinner party, and I suggested adding a little aged balsamic vinegar.

Connie jumped all over me and said, "No vinegar. You don't mix tomatoes and vinegar."

"What, no aged balsamic vinegar!" I didn't believe her for a minute and continued my balsamic vinegar ways and enjoyed every moment.

What, No Vinegar!

So here I am on vacation in the beautiful oceanside community of Avalon, New Jersey, reading a week-old food section of The Philadelphia Inquirer, and lo and behold, I come across an article on Insalta Caprese.

And what do you think they say about making this classic summer treat? No vinegar. I am shocked, dismayed, and still disbelieving, so I read further.

Insalta caprese comes from the southern Italian island of Capri, and according to tradition, the salad is made up of only five ingredients: tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and salt. No vinegar.

In fact, according to the article and in support of Connie Devlin, vinegar and tomatoes don't work together.

Why?

Because Italians like their salad tomatoes firm, slightly green, and tart rather than fully ripe and sweeter the way I prefer them. To them, there is absolutely no reason to add more tartness to the tomatoes with balsamic vinegar. Southern Italians believe the firm, tart, slightly green tomatoes perfectly complement the soft, milky texture of fresh mozzarella.

Speaking of fresh mozzarella, we are talking about the type you find sold packed in water, not the stuff you find at the grocer in shrink-wrapped plastic that is more often used for making pizza. Don't even bother serving those rubber balls of mozzarella with fresh tomatoes and basil. Not prudent at all.

I usually buy a tub of fresh mozzarella at Costco. It saves me a lot of money but also means I always have some on hand. The shelf life is at least a couple of weeks, but be sure to change the water occasionally.

Good quality fresh mozzarella should be soft, milky, and sweet in flavor. You will know when it is starting to go just by the smell. If you do not plan to have mozzarella every other night, you may be better off purchasing it in smaller quantities.

The olive oil should be the best extra virgin olive oil you can afford. I try to find the freshest EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) available, and that means looking at the labels in your specialty shops and learning when the oil was produced.

See my post on Fresh Pressed Olive Oil to learn more.

You can find good quality extra virgin olive oil at most gourmet specialty stores and now in your local supermarkets. You don't want to overpower the other fresh ingredients with the oil, so you only need a small amount.

The salt should be sea salt. I know I wrote an article called Salt is Salt that basically says all salt is NaCl and, therefore, there is no difference in taste, but I have been asking a lot of chefs and testing various types of salts myself, and I agree with the chefs that sea salt has a cleaner salty flavor. I'll write a more comprehensive taste test and report back in a future blog.

Of course, the basil should be fresh, and I like to use whole leaves depending on the size of the tomato slices. You want to make sure the basil is fresh, not wilted.

There is so much basil around this time of year you can pick it up in most supermarkets at a fairly reasonable price. We grow our own basil in our backyard, and I'm not sure why, but it seems to have a much stronger flavor than the basil we get at the market. The incredibly strong flavor has something to do with its type.

Putting the Insalada Caprese Together

There are lots of ways you can arrange the salad. I typically like to start with whole tomato slices arranged on a platter or individual serving plates, but lately, I have been cutting the tomato slices in half and sort of stacking them like fallen dominos.

How thick you slice the tomato gives you some more options. I think ¼ to ½ inch slices work fine.

Next, I add a layer of fresh mozzarella to each tomato slice. Be sure to bring the mozzarella cheese to room temperature before serving. Cold mozzarella will not have the same flavor as room-temperature cheese.

I then add the fresh basil leaves on top of the mozzarella, matching the leaf size with the tomato size—big leaves for the bigger slices, smaller ones for the smaller slices.

Then comes the extra virgin olive oil. I stick my thumb over the end of the bottle and drizzle it over the tomato, mozzarella, and basil combination. Add more or less oil to the salad, depending on your tastes.

You don't want to overwhelm the flavor; just enhance it, and remember, adding more oil is easier than taking it away.

It's time for a pinch or two of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. If you don't have a pepper grinder, I highly recommend you invest in one and then try out various types of pepper. You will be pleasantly surprised by the flavor of good quality pepper freshly ground before using.

Balsamic Vinegar or Not

I'm sorry, but I like aged balsamic vinegar on my insalata caprese. Maybe it's because our tomatoes are not unripe and tart or because the aged balsamic vinegar adds a wonderful sweetness to the dish.

Good quality aged balsamic vinegar is nothing like the inexpensive stuff you buy at the supermarket. It is very expensive and is used oh so sparingly.

A few drops can add great flavor to anything you drizzle on. It is nothing like red or white wine vinegar; I would NOT add these to my insalate caprese.

Great Time of the Year

With all the wonderful fresh tomatoes and basil around, experiment with it and see what combination works for you. There is no perfect way to prepare it, just what tastes good to you.

Variation

Cut small cubes of mozzarella (or buy the small 1" balls called bocconcini) and use cherry tomatoes instead of large tomatoes. Thread the ingredients on skewers drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and the optional balsamic.

Voila: insalate caprese on a stick, perfect for a walk-around or pre-barbecue appetizer!

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