Few dishes capture the essence of summer as cleanly as a caprese salad. The recipe is almost disarmingly simple, but its success depends entirely on the quality of what goes into it: ripe, flavourful tomatoes, the best mozzarella you can find and good olive oil. Melissa Clark, writing for New York Times Cooking, recommends using different-coloured heirloom tomatoes for the most visually striking result, and buffalo milk mozzarella for the best flavour.
The recipe serves six and takes no more than 15 minutes to put together.
Ingredients
1 lb fresh mozzarella, preferably buffalo milk; 4 medium heirloom tomatoes; 1 bunch fresh basil, leaves only, with some reserved for garnish; flaky sea salt, such as Maldon; coarsely ground black pepper; high-quality extra-virgin olive oil.
Method
While the mozzarella is still cold, slice it into ¼-inch rounds, then set it aside loosely covered to come to room temperature while you prepare the tomatoes. Slice the tomatoes into ¼-inch to ½-inch thick rounds, laying them in a single layer on the cutting board as you go, and sprinkle them generously with salt. On a serving platter, arrange the mozzarella, tomato slices and whole basil leaves so they overlap slightly. Pour any tomato juices that have collected on the cutting board over the dish, sprinkle again with salt and pepper, and drizzle with plenty of olive oil. Finish with the reserved basil leaves and serve.
A few notes
The salad can be sliced and arranged on the platter a few hours ahead and kept in the fridge, loosely covered. Take it out around 30 minutes before serving and add the salt, pepper and olive oil only at the last moment. Once dressed, it can sit at room temperature for up to an hour without deteriorating. In its classic form, the only dressing it needs is olive oil, salt and pepper, though a small drizzle of good balsamic vinegar adds another layer of flavour if desired. For a more substantial meal, Clark suggests pairing it with crusty bread, a simple pasta, or grilled meat or chicken.
