My Spring Caprese salad is a gorgeous, slightly modified version of a Caprese Salad that uses bright vine-ripened yellow Campari tomatoes, gorgeous red Roma tomatoes, tiny grape tomatoes, fresh, moist mozzarella cheese, green sweet basil, fresh purple basil, genuine extra-virgin olive oil, seasoned simply with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
There’s nothing like a delicious Caprese Salad as a wonderful starter to your meal. I love it so much. I have made a Caprese Salad with fresh Italian bread and a glass of red wine for lunch.
Today was my short day at work, so I was excited to come home and whip up a nice lunch, kick my feet up, and enjoy the beautiful afternoon in the Florida sun with a glass of wine. Life couldn’t get any more relaxing this afternoon. A Caprese Salad is to complete my day.
To make a delicious Caprese Salad, there are a few things required
- Local vine-ripened tomatoes that are juicy and flavorful, not overly ripe, and preferably warm, never been refrigerated tomatoes for the best tomato flavor.
- Quality fresh, moist mozzarella from an Italian specialty shop or deli.
- Only fresh fragrant, flavorful young, tender basil should be used.
- Genuine extra-virgin olive oil and only olive oil.
Living in Florida, our tomato season has already started booming while the tomatoes are ripe for picking here. If you live in a colder climate, waiting for your tomato season for the best flavor results versus using under-ripe grocery store tomatoes is best.
Let’s talk tomatoes…
Roma tomatoes are plum tomatoes popularly used for canning and producing tomato paste due to low seed content. Roma tomatoes are also known as Italian tomatoes or Italian plum tomatoes.
Campari tomatoes: Aka Cocktail tomatoes, is a type of tomato noted for its juiciness, high sugar level, low acidity, and lack of mealiness. Campari tomatoes can be deep red or bright yellow, larger than a cherry tomato but smaller and rounder than a plum tomato.
Grape tomatoes: Grape tomatoes produce small and usually oblong fruits. They have become increasingly popular due at least in part to their higher sugar content compared to regular tomatoes and due to their smaller, bite-sized shape size.
Spring Caprese salad
- 5 Roma or Plum tomatoes, vine ripened
- 1-pint Grape tomatoes, vine ripened
- 8 yellow Campari tomatoes, vine ripened
- 8 ounces, quality fresh, moist mozzarella cheese
- 10 leaves of young tender fresh sweet basil
- 10 leaves of young tender fresh purple basil
- A drizzle of Genuine extra-virgin olive oil
- A drizzle of quality balsamic or lemon juice, optional
- kosher salt, to taste
- fresh ground pepper, to taste
Method
- Thoroughly wash tomatoes. I like to rinse in cold water, then with a solution of 8 parts water and 2 parts white vinegar, rinse again.
- Slice Mozzarella cheese as desired.
- Slice Roma tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick rounds.
- Slice Grape tomatoes in half.
- Slice yellow Campari tomatoes in half.
- Place tomatoes and sliced fresh mozzarella cheese in a glass serving the dish, add fresh sweet basil, and purple basil, drizzle genuine extra-virgin olive oil, quality balsamic or lemon juice, add kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste, and lightly toss a few times.
- Serve and enjoy!
Spring Caprese salad
Ingredients
- 5 Roma or Plum tomatoes vine ripened
- 1- pint Grape tomatoes vine ripened
- 8 Yellow Campari tomatoes vine ripened
- 8 ounces Fresh moist mozzarella cheese
- 10 leaves Young tender fresh sweet basil
- 10 leaves Young tender fresh purple basil
- 1 drizzle Genuine extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 drizzle Balsamic or lemon juice optional
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash tomatoes, I like to rinse in cold water, then follow with a solution of 8 parts water, 2 parts white vinegar, followed by rinsing again.
- Slice Mozzarella cheese as desired.
- Slice Roma tomatoes into 1/4 inch thick rounds.
- Slice Grape tomatoes in half.
- Slice yellow Campari tomatoes in half.
- Place tomatoes and sliced fresh mozzarella cheese in a glass serving the dish, add fresh sweet basil, purple basil, drizzle genuine extra-virgin olive oil, quality balsamic or lemon juice, add kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste and lightly toss a few times.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
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This post is timed perfectly for our upcoming farmer’s markets here in Wisconsin, where we look forward to enjoying some good tomatoes; thanks so much for sharing this one!
That’s awesome to hear, Dan!
Our farmer’s markets are just getting started here in Wisconsin; this post is perfect for some of the great tomatoes we look forward to enjoying; thanks so much for sharing this one!