Caprese Salad

Caprese Salad or sometimes refered to as Salata Salad is a combination of tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella topped with fresh basil. Caprese refers to something that comes from the style of Capre, an Italian island off the coast near Naples. It is beautiful.

I visited there when I lived in Europe back in the early 90's. That was the first time I experienced this wonderful Salad. And Salata means salad.

Ingredients:
2 large heirloom or vine ripe tomatoes
Salt & Pepper
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2, 8-oz balls of buffalo mozzarella
Coarse sea salt
10 basil leaves

Slice tomatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices and lay on a plate. Season well with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil. Slice mozzarella into 1/4 inch thick slices, season with sea salt.

Starting with a tomato slice, lay on a plate, top with a slice of cheese and a basil leaf. Overlapping
as you go, repeat the process until you have a circle of overlapping slices. You an lay these into
two rows on a square plate as well.

This makes a wonderful appetizer to serve before a meal, or serve as the main salad with a meal. If serving as an appetizer, have some sliced artisan bread to serve with this salad.

Serve Caprese Salad with Chicken Kabobs