Saying goodbye to summer is hard. To me, nothing says summer like the fresh caprese salad. We enjoyed this in Italy every single day, and although I haven't been able to replicate the fresh mozzerella oozing with creamy juicy deliciousness, I have come very close with this recipe.
Since there are only a few ingredients, the quality of ingredients make all of the difference. Trust me, I've bought "generic" random tomatoes, basil and mozzarella trying to cheat the system the last couple weeks and it just didn't work. Yet when I tried the best quality ingredients I could find, the taste transformed and almost brought me back to Italy. I've had this for lunch every single day this week and it's surprisingly very filling!
You'll need honey, basalmic vinegar, olive oil (optional), garden tomatoes, basil leaves, and mozzarella.
So, unfortunately with recipes that call for only a few ingredients, you get what you pay for. Find the most expensive basalmic vinegar and olive oil you can afford and the freshest garden tomatoes and freshest basil you can find. Remember that just because it says made in Italy, doesn't mean it was, it may just mean it was sent to Italy to get a sticker on it. (Seriously, the olive oil we used to buy is only 20% olive oil....like what is the rest of it then??)
Tip: basil does NOT go in the fridge, it will turn black.
For the basalmic reduction, you mix honey and the basalmic vinegar over heat to evaporate some of the water out until it becomes thick enough to cover a spoon. Tips, it will thicken greatly when you remove it from the heat so be careful. If you get it too thick like I did you can just reheat it and add a little water in it to get the right consistency. I used this recipe, it was easy and I halved the ingredients and had enough to last me all week since it's just a drizzle. It can be stored in a little pyrex container or something.
Seriously this basalmic reduction is the bomb and even if you don't like another ingredient in this salad it all balances so perfectly that you must try it together. Without the basalmic reduction the basil is overpowering, but with it, it's heaven.
To add more flavor we drizzled some olive oil we brought from Italy over it. I wouldn't recommend this unless you have some good olive oil with flavor. Bad olive oil doesn't have enough flavor and just makes it slimy. Serve it with a side of prosciutto!
I asked Jake what he dreamt about the other night and he told me this caprese salad!
It's that good.
Go the store now (or your garden) and try this out