I’ve always said the one ingredient I can’t live without is the tomato. It is the cornerstone of a plethora of Italian dishes and brings Italian families together each year when we gather to turn the blushed beauties into hundreds of bottles of tomato passata.
I know I harp on about it a bit, but the key to Italian dishes is to use the best quality ingredients you can afford and to serve them simply to let each ingredient shine. I especially love to eat vine ripened tomatoes beside a steak and just sliced, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt.
A caprese salad is certainly nothing new, but slicing the tomatoes and re-stacking them as cut interlaced with fresh hand torn buffalo mozzarella and basil leaves and drizzled with basil oil is certainly a fun way to eat them – a caprese stack!
I ate mine as a lunch all on their own, but with tomatoes looking so pretty, why not serve them as a side at your next lunch or dinner gathering.
Caprese Stack with Basil Oil
Ingredients
- 4 large vine ripened tomatoes
- 250g Buffalo Mozzarella*
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Directions
Pick 20 basil leaves from stems and set aside for layering in the stack. Pick the remaining basil leaves from the stems and place in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt. Bash the leaves until they form a paste then transfer to a bowl, top with olive oil and stir until well combined.
Slice the tomatoes horizontally then re-stack layering with pieces of torn buffalo mozzarella and individual basil leaves.
Serve with freshly ground sea salt and drizzled with olive oil.
*If you can't source buffalo mozzarella you can use bocconcini
OK, now this is weird. I mentioned caprese to you last night and I see this the next day. And talk about a riot of colour in these gorgeous stacks!
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Haha, if it’s any consolation I made this a couple of weeks ago and meant to post it last week but didn’t get around to posting it – great minds think alike!
Love how they are stacked this way, very smexy. In season ripe tomatoes would have to be one of my favourite things.
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Smexy… 😉 Made me smile. I’m glad other people think tomatoes are amazing!
Love anything caprese! And I agree a nice stack is a great presentation for this. And with basil oil? Yes, please.
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I’m a serious caprese sucker. That basil oil has been going on everything lately too!!
Oh man, that light and those COLORS!!
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Mmmmmm love all types of tomatoes especially done Caprese style. I am not a summer girl but the best thing I like about summer is picking a just ripe tomato from our garden and making a simple salad with basil and olive oil and fresh crusty bread . Yum. Love the photography Amanda
such a poetically stunning dish. Elegant and chic.
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So gorgeous both the pictures and the tomatoes. The perfect way to have ripe delicious tomatoes
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Caprese salad is one of my all time favourites 🙂
These look amazing.
Tomatoes are such a beautiful ingredient and paired with buffalo mozzarella, just scrumptious!
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Hi Amanda! Gorgeous pictures, delicious recipe. Needed something for a backyard potluck the other day, and these really did the trick! 🙂
How lush and perfectly ripe are those tomatoes? Veggie stacks are so often greasy but this looks deliciously light and fresh!
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Wow..Nice article Tomatoes are such a beautiful ingredient