I got the opportunity to go to the Los Angeles location of Eataly, the not so new now, specialty market/food court brainchild of Eataly founder Oscar Farinetti along with partners/collaborators Lidia Bastianich and her son Joe and chef Mario Batali. I will tell you about the whole visit in another post. Today I want to tell you about the lovely salad that resulted from this visit.
One on the featured demonstrations at Eastaly was in the cheese department, a lady making mozzarella balls. It was fascinating watching her grab a thick strand of the cheese from a large steel bowl filled with liquid and deftly roll and pinch it into a small round of beautiful smooth white cheese. I bought 2 containers of the obviously fresh cheese and it was not exorbitantly priced.
With cheese this fresh, I knew a Caprese Salad was in my future, but I had to get the other ingredients. More specifically I needed fresh tomatoes and fresh basil. When I got to the market I was able to pick up some nice red, yellow and orange small tomatoes on the vine but when I went to get the basil, it didn’t smell right so I was going to had to go elsewhere to finish acquiring my ingredients. I hit Trader Joes and they did not have any packaged fresh basil but they did have basil plants that where only $3.50 US. So, it looks like I am cooking with basil for the next week or so.
To put together the salad, slice tomatoes and cheese (try for a similar thickness in the slices). Some people like big pieces of basil, I prefer to chiffonade the basil which is to roll the leaf into a tube shape and then slice cut the roll into thin strips.
Lay out alternating slices of cheese, basil and tomato. Lightly drizzle the completed lay-out with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Finish off the plate with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and a little garlic powder. And there you go, you have Caprese Salad. It was absolutely delicious. The fresh mozzarella cheese blended so well with the ripe tomato and the basil and balsamic vinegar added brightness that enhanced the flavors. So good.
Do you like Caprese Salad? Do you do it differently? Let me know.
Copyright 2018
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