Seasonal local food recipe No.389 – Felicity Cloake’s perfect caprese salad
We have such tasty tomatoes and basil in our weekly veg boxes. It’s important to keep both out of the fridge to conserve their full flavour.
Originally from the Italian island of Capri, this salad needs to be made with the best ingredients and kept very, very simple. We recommend this version from Felicity Cloake in the The Guardian.
Serves 4 (with bread)
Preparation time: 5 minutes + 15 minutes resting time
Ingredients
About 600g tomatoes of different shapes and sizes, including some slightly under-ripe or more acidic varieties
Extra virgin olive oil
250g buffalo mozzarella
Small bunch of basil, preferably with smallish leaves
Method
Cut the tomatoes into different sized slices and chunks depending on their size and shape – large craggy fruit often looks better cut into cross sections. Cut out the core if it looks chewy. Put into a bowl and sprinkle with sea salt, leave to sit for 10 minutes, then add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and gently toss with a couple of spoons.
Arrange the tomatoes on a platter, spooning over their juices. Tear the mozzarella over the top, and scatter with torn basil leaves. Drizzle with more oil and season with a little more salt. Serve.
