With the beastly hot weather in my neck of the woods, tasty summer salads seem like the perfect solution to dinnertime…or anytime…woes.
I adore the classic caprese ingredients – tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil – and this delicious salad combines them perfectly with a splash of tart balsamic vinegar. The flavors of this salad are intensified by simmering down the tomato juice, garlic and vinegar and whisking together a quick vinaigrette.
After I got over the hesitancy to dig into something so pretty, this was definitely a hard one to stop eating. Light, flavorful and so very fresh, this would be perfect alongside a BBQ spread or simply by itself.
One Year Ago: Hot Fudge Sauce
Two Years Ago: Angel Hair Pasta Salad
Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad
Printable Version with Picture
Printable Version
*Serves 4 to 6
INGREDIENTS:
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and patted dry
1 cup chopped fresh basil
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt together. Let the mixture stand for 30 minutes so that the tomatoes give up some of their juices. Transfer the tomatoes and any accumulated liquid to a salad spinner and spin to remove the seeds and the liquid. Then pour the accumulated seeds and liquid into a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds, reserving the liquid. (I don’t have a salad spinner, so I dumped the all of the tomatoes and juices into a fine mesh strainer set over a liquid measuring cup and pressed on the tomatoes lightly to give up more of their juices. I picked out a few of the seeds but didn’t worry so much about eliminating all of them.) Return the tomatoes to the original bowl and pour the tomato liquid into a small saucepan (you should have between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of liquid).
To the small saucepan, add the vinegar and garlic. Simmer over medium heat until the mixture is reduced to about 3 tablespoons. This will take about 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature and then whisk in the olive oil.
Add the mozzarella cheese, basil and cooled dressing to the bowl with the tomatoes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.
Recipe Source: from Cook’s Country Aug/Sept 2009
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Your photo is gorgeous, Melanie! I love caprese salad! What a brilliant idea to spin the tomatoes in a salad spinner to remove the seeds and juice…I would have never thought of that! I have everything to make this right now, so this will be lunch today (and a side dish for grilled chicken tonight). Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful!
Caprese is one of my absolute summer favorites. Soon we’ll have fresh garden tomatoes and basil and then off we’ll go.
I think you would LOVE this recipe. Use italian parsley. we omited the capers and thought black olives would be a nice addition. It was even better after sitting in the fridge a few hours! http://www.italianfoodnet.com/eng/video/fusilli-mediterranean-style
oh, we also used fresh mozzerella (not buffalo style)
I am in LOVE with Caprese! Unfortunatly my tomato plants were a loss this year =( My basil is growing like a weed tho! =) I’m gonna see if I can score some nice heirlooms at the farmer’s market one of these weekends & see if I can throw this salad together. I’ve never tried reducing the tomato juice. What a stroke of brilliance!
classic and fantastic. the balsamic is essential, and the reduced juice is an awesome touch.
This recipe is awesome, and so easy to make! Thank you so much for sharing; all of my friends love it
Love caprese salad! I recently had a very large party where I served mainly finger foods–but really wanted a salad! I used roma tomatoes (quartered), fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil and skewered them. I put all of the skewers on a large platter and drizzled with some basalmic vinaigrette and let it sit for several hours. It was so yum and could be easily eaten by hand. Just thought I would pass along the idea!
Thanks, Brandon!
I love me a Caprese salad and pretty much live off them when I have fresh basil and tomatoes in my garden. This took it to a whole new level. So yummy!
Thanks, Cammee!
Made this tonight!!!! HOMERUN! Ridiculously good! Thanks for this great recipe, it will become a summer staple!
Thanks, Beth!
Made this for a party over the weekend and cut the tomatoes and mozzerella even smaller and served with a toasted french loaf….best brushcetta ever! Got rave reviews from everyone. Thank you so much again!
Thanks, Beth! Love the idea of serving this as bruschetta.
What a great way to enjoy those great summer flavours!
Can you make this ahead of time?
Stephanie – Yes, you could make this the morning before serving. I had leftovers the last time I made this and the flavors were a bit too strong after refrigerating overnight, but that may have been just a matter of my preference.
I made this salad for a meeting at church I substituted red wine vinegar, my fave, and added a bag of the new mini pepperonis, and right before serving tossed in a bag of seasoned croutons. It was a hit to say the least. I did increase the oil and vinegar a little to compensate for the addition of the croutons. When I find a recipe that I love, I mess around with it, i made the same recipe with the pepperonis, left out the croutons, increased the vinaigrette, added some diced green pepper, and sliced black olives and tossed it with bowtie pasta. I called it Pizza pasta salad, it to was a hit.
This is an outstanding salad recipe. I first encountered it a year ago on foodgawker and have made it a few times. It’s so easy to make and is absolutely delicious! You’re an absolute treasure. Thank you so much for sharing this.