How To Make Caprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze

What can be better on a hot summer day than a very easy salad that you can make in 10 minutes from fresh ingredients? Even if the salad contains only a few ingredients, it is very nourishing.

Today we will make the famous Caprese Italian salad. It’s very delicious, juicy, full of colors and tastes that will bring our minds to Mediterranean cuisine.

Caprese salad is one of the world’s famous cold Italian salads. The main classic components of this meal are fresh green basil leaves.

Also, add soft buffalo mozzarella, some juicy tomatoes, and some olive oil, and you’re done!

The colors of the ingredient are like the flag of Italy, which is very symbolic of its origins.

Traditional Caprese elements may not be available everywhere. But today there are many delicious modifications.

For example, bovine mozzarella is often replaced with a cow’s milk counterpart, arugula is used in many recipes instead of basil.

Besides the pesto sauce, nuts, and avocados, you can add also some capers to the salad.

As this is a very simple salad, it is necessary to pick the best ingredients you can find. So, be especially careful when choosing mozzarella. It should be in brine and without yellow deposits on the surface of the balls.

The taste of good mozzarella is soft, juicy, and not “rubbery”.

Let’s get started!

Where Does Caprese Salad Come From?

Caprese salad is an Italian recipe that originated in the 1950s on the Isle of Capri.

The original name is “Insalata Caprese,” and it was made up only of cow’s milk mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, and arugula.

It’s the perfect salad for a light dinner or an appetizer when you will have some guests. From these simple ingredients, when you will combine them, you will get an unexpected delicious result.

Ingredients you will need to make a Delicious Caprese Salad:

• Tomatoes. I used different types of tomatoes to add more flavors and more colors to the plate. If you want, you can use only one type of tomato for this recipe.
• Mozzarella. You can use baby mozzarella or fresh mozzarella. For the true lovers of this type of cheese, I would recommend using buffalo mozzarella. Or, for a different and special taste, you can use the burrata cheese that will change totally this salad.
• Basil Pesto. You can use the commercial pesto, or if you have the necessary ingredients, you can make your own basil pesto at home.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s very important to use an oil of high quality because in that salad we have only a few ingredients and the taste of every ingredient counts.
• Balsamic Vinegar Glaze.
• Optional: Basil for decoration.

How to make a delicious Caprese Salad?

Cut the mozzarella cheese into small slices of ¼ ″.

Slice the tomatoes in the same way as the mozzarella.

Mix the basil pesto with olive oil and after that, spread 1/3 of this sauce on the plate.

The next step will be to arrange as you want the tomato slices on the plate.

With another third of the sauce, splash on the tomatoes.

Now it’s time to add the mozzarella to the plate. Arrange it above the tomatoes.

Splash with the last third of basil sauce above the salad.

And the last step, splash the salad with a few drops of Balsamic sauce.

Answering Your Questions:

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