Caprese Salad Afiicianados, How Do You Make Yours?

[Huskee]

What type(s) of tomatoes would you say are best? Any other things you do to make yours a step above the rest?

[Hulagn1971]

Calling HouseHomey

[DavidNorcross]

I would say Roma. I have also had great caprese with cherry tomatoes

[Mosca]

I don’t think there is a “best” tomatoes, but there is definitely a worst: storebought beefsteaks in December.

[Henrik]

+1
For this awesome dish I think ”beef” tomatoes in general should be forbidden. Regardless of type of tomato, one wants tomatoes with FLAVOR. And in my book beef tomatoes fail in that area.

[shify]

The only must for me is NO balsamic.

Fresh mozzarella, ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, good olive oil and flaky salt (probably more olive oil and more salt than you think) make the perfect caprese.

[Huskee]

I'm with you on balsamic but my wife likes it on caprese.

[Mosca]

shify When I would make it with just a short drizzle of balsamic, Mrs Mosca would ask, “Where’s all the juice?” Thus, the best balsamic I could afford.

[surfdog]

Mmmm…going to have to pull a yellow card here. ;-)

Aged balsamic FTW.

[Mosca]

Following that up,

To make it a step above: Caprese is so uncomplicated that the better way to raise it up is to concentrate on highest quality ingredients rather than extra ingredients.

In the summer, when they are good, I’ll get two or three different varieties of heirloom tomatoes and alternate them in a spiral pattern.



Otherwise, home grown or reliable farmers tomatoes. We just got back from New Jersey with a small basket of beautiful Ramapos.

Always use center slices of tomatoes, with no bits of the core in them. You can chop up the parts you didn’t use and make pico de gallo. Or cube some fresh mozzarella, mix that together with the chopped tomato pieces, and put that in the center of the spiral.

Use the highest quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar you can get/afford. If all you have is the less expensive balsamic, then add a little sugar and reduce it to a syrup.

Use fresh mozzarella. If you can get those little burrata balls, that’s even better.

Fresh basil, obviously, and freshly ground black pepper, and sea salt. If you can get Maldon, with those big flakes, that’s even better.

Other things I’ve tried that haven’t made it better: bacon, shallots, garlic. Lemon juice. Regular mozzarella.

One thing I’ve tried that I really liked: grated or shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. You can use a vegetable peeler for that. Pecorino Romano or Grano Padano would also be great there.

Out of season, you can make it with roasted red peppers instead of lousy tomatoes. Or, if you don’t like fresh tomatoes.

[Huskee]

Great tips, thanks!

[barelfly]

Those are some good lookin caprese!

[Richard Chrz]

That looks fantastic!

[SheilaAnn]

shify no balsamic? Let’s agree to disagree, friend. Use great balsamic, and use it with a light hand.

[shify]

Great aged balsamic on strawberries, I’m in. On ice cream, I’m in. On chunks of Parmigiano Reggiano, I’m so down with that.

On creamy fresh mozzarella and super ripe tomatoes - thanks but no thanks! But no judgment! - agree with your agree to disagree

[SheilaAnn]

I’m in on all your balsamic applications, that’s for sure! I did a homemade strawberry ice cream once with a ribbon of reduced balsamic. So good!

[Skip]

I have this recipe saved in Paprika and use it as a guide. We only make this in the summer when we have homegrown Super Sweet Cherry Tomatoes. Topping at serving time with this Bertolli Balsamic Glaze from our Grocery Store really pushes it over the top IMO.

https://www.number-2-pencil.com/make-ahead-caprese-salad-with-cherry-tomatoes/

https://oliveoil.bertolli.com/products/vinegars/vinegars-vinegars/balsamic-glaze-with-balsamic-vinegar-of-modena/

[SheilaAnn]

Here are some of my past plates. Layered is with an heirloom tomato from FM (don’t recall the species) pre-balsamic drizzle. And then diced using little grape tomatoes. The baguette is lightly toasted and rubbed with garlic clove.

[Mosca]

shify no balsamic? Let’s agree to disagree, friend. Use great balsamic, and use it with a light hand.

A while back (10 years?) I spent $100 for a small bottle of Italian aged balsamic. It was amazing. But I couldn’t say it was $100 worth of amazing, that is a serious chunk of change for those of us who get paychecks instead of investment statements. Let’s call it worth $100, but only once.

When iGourmet closed out their warehouse, I picked up several bottles of non-aged Italian balsamic; I don’t know the per bottle price, but it was under $5 each. These are more acidic than sweet. The Wegman’s one is sweeter than those, but still more acidic. It’s $18 for 8.5oz.. I’m just an “internet expert” on this stuff, though. I know what I like, but I don’t know if it’s good, better, or whatever.

[Henrik]

I’m with Mosca on this one. The best way to do this great dish is to stay true to the original, and that means using top quality ingredients:

- your favorite tomatoes. My only criteria: Flavor!! They must taste good. Not beef tomatoes, too watery and bland.
- great mozarella, but not burrata. I love burrata, but it doesn’t slice well.

Fruity olive oil. Don’t skimp on quality.

Flaked sea salt, and fresh ground 16 mesh black pepper.


And here’s another thing that I think is forgotten, but very important: room temperature ingredients! Take the tomatoes out of the fridge in the morning so they have room temp. Take out the cheese a good hour before serving. That makes a big difference.

As for balsamic vinegar cream: not my cup of tea, but if my guests want it I’m cool with it.

[gboss]

The tomatoes should not be in the refrigerator to begin with. Good note about the cheese though.

[Dan Deter]

My wife is the one who makes it, but I've picked up some important bits:
1) Good ripe tomatoes. Generally this means only during tomato growing season. If you have to get it from the store then cherry tomatoes are generally ok.
2) She uses a basalmic glaze/reduction, kosher or sea salt, virgin olive oil, fresh basil.
3) If using cherry tomatoes than the little mozzarella pearls. If using large tomatoes sliced then sliced mozzarella.

[Sid P]

It’s still good if you skip #2, but I think the reduction is important. You can get the same level of flavor but with less liquid.

[FireMan]

What is this salad stuff? What are we becoming? Next thing ya know we’ll have a post on huggin trees and eatin nuts!

[surfdog]

FRESH tomatoes & herbs. That CANNOT be overstated.

I prefer a good quality buffalo mozzarella…sliced thin. This is where you get to show off that sharp knife. ;-)

As for balsamic…I think that it’s hard to beat a good quality aged balsamic vinegar.

IF that’s not available, or the budget doesn’t allow for that, one can sorta make their own…

Start with a good quality balsamic…and for every 1/3 cup or so, add a tablespoon or so of sugar…and port. Reduce it to a syrupy consistency…and you’re golden. Only the most refined palate will suspect that you “cheated.” Light brown sugar was the down & dirty secret that we used when catering large events. We NEVER called it “aged” balsamic…but nobody ever pressed us either. It was simply a balsamic reduction.

[JCBBQ]

Best tomato I’ve had? Heirloom tomatoes from a farm/farmer’s market. Then get over to Vito’s in Hoboken and get yourself a “full twist of mutz” - found only one better in Italy - and then pick some basil from your garden. Great olive oil. I guess my point is…it’s all about the ingredients. Assembly is dealers choice. I will say that you should definitely salt the tomatoes after slicing and never EVER put fresh mozzarella in the fridge- it’s your responsibility to eat it all that day. Refrigeration screws up the texture. I like to crack pepper on top, some don’t. Generally I don’t use balsamic, and I like to chiffonade the basil. Ingredients and simplicity.