New Caprese
A simple cheese swap: out with the fresh mozzarella, in with the sottocenere al tartufo. Less wet; more silky funk.
Sottocenere Caprese Salad
2015-12-14 16:19:07
The traditional caprese salad calls for garden ripe tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, and buffalo mozzarella. Sometimes recipes call for salt, or a drizzle of olive oil, or a spray of balsamic vinegar. Some purists insist on just the naked 3 main ingredients. It's a wonderful summer dish. But sometimes, to give that salad a bit more heft, it's nice to mix things up. Sottocenere al tartufo is a semi-soft Italian cow's milk cheese, quite mild, studded with slivers of truffles and aged with an ashy rind. It's one of my absolute favorites, and brings out the deliciousness of those perfect tomatoes very nicely.
Ingredients
- 2 large heirloom or several small ripe excellent cocktail/campari tomatoes
- 1-2 oz fresh basil leaves (one per tomato slice)
- 3-4 oz sottocenere al tartufo cheese, sliced somewhat thinly to roughly fit tomato slices
- sea salt
- extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Slice tomatoes in medium or thick slabs and place on serving dish; sprinkle with sea salt. Place one basil leaf on each slice. Top each with a piece of cheese. Drizzle olive oil sparingly over entire dish.
A few tomato thoughts
- Your average grocery store tomatoes just won't cut it for this salad. Some areas have wonderful hydroponic tomatoes perfectly ripe available year-round; summertime heirlooms, like brandywines, are truly only available in season. We're lucky enough to get lovely cocktail tomatoes even in winter from a producer in Maine - so if you can't get them off your own vine or someone very nearby, it may be worth the wait til the farmers' market opens again near you.
A note on EVOO
- Extra Virgin olive oil isn't always what it's cracked up to be. But if it tastes good to you, then it's worth eating. I like a young, "green" tasting oil with a bitter tang for traditional capreses, though milder oils help the truffle shine through a bit brighter. For more information on the dark underbelly of the olive oil world, I highly recommend EXTRA VIRGINITY as a great place to start.
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