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🇮🇹 Salad · Italy
Caprese Salad
Insalata Caprese was created on the island of Capri in the 1920s — at the Hotel Quisisana, in some tellings — as a tribute to the Italian flag, with red tomato, white mozzarella di bufala and green basil arranged in stripes. It quickly crossed the Bay of Naples to Sorrento and from there to every Italian table, becoming today the country's most photographed salad.
Rich in vitamins
Fresh and healthy
Traditional recipe
Authentic taste
Ingredients 4 servings
- 3 ripe tomatoes, sliced
- 250 g buffalo mozzarella
- Fresh basil leaves
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Coarse salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Balsamic vinegar (optional)
How to make it
- 1Take the mozzarella out of the fridge at least thirty minutes before serving — fridge-cold it loses its creaminess and the flavour stays flat.
- 2Choose ripe, fragrant tomatoes — anything from Cuore di Bue to cherries on the vine, as long as they smell of summer — and slice them about a centimetre thick.
- 3Cut the mozzarella into slices of the same thickness.
- 4On a large flat plate, alternate one slice of tomato with one of mozzarella in a single, slightly overlapping row, tucking a whole basil leaf between each pair so the green shows.
- 5Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil until it pools at the base, season with a few flakes of sea salt and a turn of freshly cracked black pepper.
- 6Serve immediately at room temperature, with crusty bread.
- 7Purists refuse balsamic vinegar — Caprese was born without it and works best that way.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Calories 280 kcal
Protein 9 g
Carbs 32 g
Fat 10 g
Fiber 5 g
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
🥖 Crusty Italian bread
🍷 Dry Italian red (Chianti)
🧀 Extra Parmigiano
🫒 Extra-virgin olive oil
