Fresh Tomato Basil Salad: A Perfect Summer Recipe

If I could choose my last meal on earth, it would be a fresh Tomato Basil Salad, or as the Italians call it, Insalata Caprese.

The best tomato basil recipe is a salad made from the simplest and the freshest ingredients - and perfect for summer entertaining. Here's my favorite tomato basil salad recipe - with some tips and hints to make it your own.

Tomato Basil Salad - Insalata Caprese
The following serves six people (or two Insalata Caprese fans)
Ingredients:
Fresh heirloom or homegrown tomatoes, sliced (3-4 depending on size)
Fresh sweet basil, strip leaves from stems (about 1 cup, loosely packed)
Fresh mozzarella (1 lb., sliced into 1/4 inch slices)
Olive oil (approximately 1/3 cup)
Salt (to taste)
Fresh cracked pepper (to taste)
Fresh French baguette (optional)

Serving Tomato Basil Salad

Overlap a slice of tomato, a slice of mozzarella, and a large basil leaf over and over around your serving plate. Just slightly overlap each item. Fill in the center with additional tomato, mozzarella and smaller basil leaves, sprinkling any remaining small basil leaves around the top.

Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes, basil and cheese evenly. Salt and pepper to taste.

Slice a baguette into 1/2 to 1 inch-wide slices and place in a serving basket. When ready to eat, place some of the tomato, basil, mozzarella, olive oil mixture on top of a baguette slice. Enjoy.

Tips and Variations for Tomato Basil Salad

To make this tomato basil salad your own:
Tomatoes - Any fresh, homegrown or heirloom tomato will do. A tomato without too much juice is best, and I prefer a good mid-size tomato instead of a beefsteak. In the South, the popular Creole tomato is a perfect choice as well as the heirlooms Black Krim and Cherokee Purple.

Olive Oil Variations - I enjoy mixing olive oil and balsamic vinegar together. I don't worry too much about exact measurements, but I normally use two parts olive oil to one part balsamic vinegar or half olive oil and half balsamic.

Sometimes I add fresh grated Parmesan, Romano, or Asiago cheese to the olive oil mixture before drizzling.

I also enjoy trying any dipping oil that I might have on hand - which is usually a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and various herbs, so it works perfectly for making tomato basil salad.

Give the olive oil mixture 30 minutes or so to soak into the cheese, tomatoes and basil. It will make the dish more flavorful.

Cheese Variations - Instead of mozzarella cheese, try Farmers cheese; or another cheese that I am particularly fond of with this dish is Havarti cheese.

Bread Variations - Try toasting your baguette slices: brush on a little olive oil or an olive oil and finely chopped garlic mixture.

Finishing Touches for Your Tomato Basil Salad

Prep your salad ahead of time but never store tomatoes in the refrigerator. Any true tomato aficionado will tell you that it ruins the taste. I prefer this salad served at room temperature.

This is a perfect recipe for entertaining. You'll find this tomato basil salad recipe easy to scale up for a dinner party or down for just one person.

Source:
My personal experience.