Insalata Caprese

Caprese salad, named for the island of Capri just off the coast of Naples, is a simple but delicious combination of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, bound together with olive oil and salt. One (likely apocryphal) origin story is that the salad was invented by an Italian patriot during the great war. Indeed, the green basil, white cheese, and red tomatoes, which together resemble the flag of the Kingdom of Italy, have earned the Caprese salad the name, “Insalata Tricolore”—the Tricolor salad. Another story claims that the salad was invented at the Hotel Quisisana on Capri, inspired by a visit in the 1920s from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the founder of the Futurist movement and noted poet, modernist, nationalist, misogynist, Fascist, and pasta-hater [1] (You know something’s wrong if someone hates pasta!).

Regardless of its origins, Caprese salad is a delightfully simple preparation which showcases its ingredients. Because of this, high-quality ingredients in the proper ratio are crucial for success!

Ingredients

1 lb vine-ripened tomatoes
10 oz fresh mozzarella
1 bunch basil
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 tsp flaky sea salt
Black pepper to taste

Tomatoes form the base of the Caprese, providing sweetness, tartness, and body. They should be tender and juicy, but neither too tough, nor too mushy. Therefore, it is important that the tomatoes used in this dish actually taste like tomatoes. Most tomatoes you find in the grocery store are picked while still green, when they are firmer and easier to transport. They are then ripened through exposure to ethylene gas, a process which softens the tomatoes and turns them red. However, this rapid, artificial ripening does not allow the fruit to develop the same depth of flavor as it does when allowed to ripen on the vine [2]. This is why, when we cook with tomatoes, we often add ketchup or tomato paste to reinforce the “tomato flavor.” However, this isn’t an option when our salad is 50% raw tomato! Therefore, it is mission critical to find high quality tomatoes for this dish. Use about a pound of vine-ripened or heirloom tomatoes for this dish [3]. Keep the tomatoes at room temperature, and plan to make the salad within a day. Otherwise, the tomatoes will become overripe and mushy. While we’re in the produce section, look for some fresh sweet basil. Go for basil which is bright in color and has small leaves, which tend to be sweeter.

Look for the highest quality fresh mozzarella you can find. You can use either cow’s milk mozzarella (fior de latte) or buffalo mozzarella, to your taste. If you have a nearby store which makes mozzarella in-house, this is a good recipe to splurge! If you are using refrigerated mozzarella, let the cheese come to room temperature before using, as the fibers in chilled mozzarella are tighter, resulting in a more rubbery mouthfeel. You can also soak the cheese for an hour in salted milk. The cheese will absorb some of this milk, replicating the juiciness of fresh mozzarella. If you are very committed, you can also make fresh mozzarella at home.

Cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into ¼ inch slices, using a serrated knife for the best results. Begin layering the ingredients on a large plate—a slice of tomato, followed by a slice of mozzarella, then a basil leaf. You can arrange the salad however you’d like, as long as you end up with a single, slightly overlapping layer.

Next, it’s time to dress the salad. Sprinkle over some nice flaky sea salt, together with some coarsely ground black pepper to taste. It is important to use flaky sea salt in this dish, as the flakes add a crunchy texture to the dish. Finally, drizzle over the olive oil, and optionally, the balsamic vinegar. Use the best olive oil you have available—it should be fruity and fragrant. A cold-pressed unfiltered extra virgin olive oil would be best! Be sure to drizzle the oil uniformly across the ingredients. Serve the salad immediately—Caprese salad does not benefit from an extended rest!

Substitutions

If you have to make Caprese salad in the off-season, or if heirloom tomatoes are unavailable, use cherry or grape tomatoes instead. Despite not being the traditional shape for Caprese salad, these smaller varieties are bred to be sweeter, and also tend to be left on the vine for longer, as they are less easily bruised during transport.

You can experiment with using burrata or smoked mozzarella in this dish. Some versions of this salad also include fresh oregano in lieu of the basil, as well as olives.

[1] Marinetti coauthored the “Facist Manifesto” in 1919, the founding document of European Fascism. However, Marinetti was soon ostracized by Mussolini for being too radical. One of his many controversial opinions was his stance against pasta, which he viewed as foreign in origin and contributing to lassitude, pessimism, and lack of fighting spirit among the Italian people.

[2] For more information on what compounds make tomatoes taste like tomatoes, refer to this paper: Tieman et al., A chemical genetic roadmap to improved tomato flavor, Science, 2017.

[3] In the Northern Hemisphere, the tomato season is typically June to October.

Recipe

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 0 min Total Time: 10 min

Difficulty: 1/5

Heat Sources: None

Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb vine-ripened tomatoes
10 oz fresh mozzarella
1 bunch basil
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 tsp flaky sea salt
Black pepper to taste