Caprese salad with basil pesto
Caprese salad with basil pesto
Tomato, basil and mozzarella: the Italian trifecta. Is there anything better on a hot summer’s day than a fresh Caprese salad? Preferably paired with an ice cold Aperol spritz or glass of rosé! Caprese salad (or Insalata Caprese) originated in the Isle of Capri in the Bay of Naples; however, you will find this salad on menus across Italy.
The key to this salad is to use good quality, ripe, room temperature tomatoes. If you grow your own tomatoes at home, even better! As you can see, I’ve used a number of different varieties and colours of tomatoes, which makes for a very attractive plate.
For this recipe I also travel further up the west coast of Italy to Genova: the home of basil pesto. Pesto is traditionally made in a mortar and pestle, but if you don’t have one a food processor or blender will do just fine. Any leftover pesto you have can be stirred through pasta or spread on top of bruschetta. Buon appetito!
Ingredients
Serves 2
For the pesto
1 clove garlic
Pinch of sea salt
1 large bunch fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp pine nuts
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
For the salad
600g assorted tomatoes
1 large ball fresh mozzarella
A few basil leaves to garnish
Freshly cracked black pepper
Method
To make the pesto using a mortar and pestle, add the garlic and sea salt and grind to form a rough paste. Add the basil leaves and continue grinding it down for a couple of minutes, then add the pine nuts and grated parmesan. Continue grinding the mixture against the mortar and pestle until you get a paste. Gradually add the olive oil and mix until combined.
If you’re making the pesto in a food processor or blender, pulse the garlic and sea salt together a few times to get a rough paste. Add the basil leaves, pine nuts and grated parmesan and continue pulsing (gently) until you get a paste. Gradually add the oil, pulsing until just combined.
To assemble the salad, first slice the tomatoes (I slice the cherry tomatoes in half and the larger tomatoes in thick slices). Assemble the tomatoes on a large plate then tear off chunks of the mozzarella and spread around the tomatoes.
Dot spoonfuls of the fresh pesto around the tomatoes and mozzarella. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and finish with a generous amount of cracked black pepper.
