Scheff’s Table: Heirloom Caprese Salad

I love the time of summer when our heirloom tomatoes from the garden are ripe enough to eat. Because that means enjoying heirloom Caprese salads! Italy’s Caprese salad – named for the island of Capri – is one of the simplest and most delicious things ever. The key to a great Caprese salad lies in…

Ted Scheffler

August 23, 2018

I love the time of summer when our heirloom tomatoes from the garden are ripe enough to eat. Because that means enjoying heirloom Caprese salads!
Italy’s Caprese salad – named for the island of Capri – is one of the simplest and most delicious things ever. The key to a great Caprese salad lies in its simplicity and freshest ingredients.

However, people often screw up Caprese salad by adding unnecessary ingredients that hide the simple, basic flavors. For example, in this country, for some reason, many chefs put balsamic on their Caprese. For shame! That would be unheard of in Italy. A real Caprese salad is made solely with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, salt, olive oil, and (optional) black pepper. That’s all.

For this recipe I don’t specify exact ingredient amounts. You can make Caprese salad using one tomato or one hundred; just adjust the ingredient amounts accordingly. And here I’m using heirloom tomatoes, but any nice ripe tomato will work.

Ingredients:

Fresh tomatoes, preferably heirloom
Fresh mozzarella (preferably buffalo), sliced
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Good quality extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh basil leaves, chopped or julienned

Method:

1. On a cutting board, slice the tomatoes horizontally into 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick slices.
2. Season the tomato slices to taste with salt and (optional) black pepper.
3. This next step is optional, but I like to place the tomatoes on the cutting board in my kitchen sink, propped up at an angle to allow some of the tomato water to drain off before using.
4. Cover the seasoned tomatoes with slices of mozzarella.
5. Drizzle the tomatoes and mozzarella with extra-virgin olive oil.
6. Sprinkle fresh basil leaves on the tomatoes and serve.

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Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine & travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers.

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Scheff’s Table, Utah Bites

caprese salad, Cooking, foodie, Home Cooking, italian food

Ted Scheffler

Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine, and travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, music, and reading, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers. Ted is also the author of the Utah Bites newsletter, which is published in partnership with Utah Stories. Before moving to Utah, Ted lived in New York City, and numerous states in the US, as well as in various countries overseas, Spain, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. He earned a Master’s Degree in Anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of The New School for Social Research.