Search Results for: caprese

20 Caprese Recipes You’ll Go Crazy For

From the best caprese salads to caprese skewers and the classic caprese sandwich, this list of 20 favorite tomato, mozzarella and basil themed recipes will have you going crazy for caprese.

You know those quizzes you see all over the internet touting, “Choose your favorite XX and we’ll tell you your personality type”? Well, if I had to choose, my favorite-salad-personality-clone would be the caprese salad.

There’s not much you can’t do with the basic ingredients of the classic caprese salad, from the classic caprese salad to caprese skewers to caprese-topped chicken dinners, all you need to get started is:

fresh and creamy mozzarella (any shape or size, and ultra-creamy burrata makes things even that much better)
the season’s best tomatoes (hopefully still warm from the garden)
spicy basil that smells of summer
the best fruity olive oil your wallet can afford
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper for that hit of spice we all need in our day

Alone as a preamble salad or served as a potluck side dish that will be the first to disappear, a classic caprese is pure love on a plate, in a bowl, or on a platter. But take those classically fresh Italian ingredients and add a dose of inspiration and you have so much more: a topper for chicken, or spritzing up toasts, or making breakfast eggs even more of the best way to start your day. The caprese personality is one everybody will love.

The season is now to capture the rapt ripeness of the best tomatoes. Get them before the getting’s gone. It’s time to get your caprese on.

Start with this list of 20 caprese recipes to crush on now.continue to the recipe… about 20 Caprese Recipes You’ll Go Crazy For

The Best Caprese Salad (Plus a DIY Caprese Salad Bar)

The best caprese salad shows off summer’s finest with creamy mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes topped with fresh leafy basil and fruity olive oil. Serve the salads individually or turn this simple Italian staple into a party by creating a DIY caprese salad bar where everyone can help themselves.

I’ve been a fan of caprese salads for as long as I can remember. But it was only recently I was introduced to the brilliant idea of creating a self-serve caprese salad bar no matter how big your party.

My husband and I were at Park City’s Stein Eriksen Lodge’s Hops on the Hill sampling brews, bites, and bands. One of the food stations featured a huge cutting board loaded with a variety of fresh heirloom tomatoes sliced to order by a chef who I likened to a bartender, but who serves up tomatoes instead of cocktails. Now that’s my kind of bar.

Alongside these gorgeous hued tomato orbs were different vinegars, oils, salts, and saucey spreads to choose from, top the tomatoes, and make your own creation.

Trolling the topping options and dressing my salad I literally had one of those, “Why didn’t I think of this” moments. A caprese salad bar is easy entertaining at it’s finest, and it’s a wow-factor presentation for guests to interact with too.

I mean, why should the host be the only one to have all the fun?continue to the recipe… about The Best Caprese Salad (Plus a DIY Caprese Salad Bar)

Chicken Caprese Sandwich

Grilled rosemary bread is a delicious base for this grilled chicken caprese sandwich. It features fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil, farmer’s market tomatoes, and a balsamic reduction for a classic flavor combination you just can’t beat.

Did you do a double take?

In this season of slow cooker soups and hearty comfort food, you might be wondering what in the heck this fresh take on a summer classic is doing on the bloggity blog right smack dab in the middle of winter?

Personally, I can think of no better time. Even if you can’t ditch the snow shovel yet, you can still eat like it’s all sunshine and tan lines. Because soon enough, it will be.

I am a huge fan of anything caprese. The fresh flavors of sweet tomatoes, sliced mozzarella cheese, basil draped in balsamic anything and everything, and a drizzle of fruity olive oil. If you’re looking for caprese recipes here on FoodieCrush, you’ll see the combo is pretty much my fave. And judging by your response to them, you’re digging them too.

These days, fresh tomatoes are pretty easy to come by all year long. Summer sports fresh ‘maters at farmer’s markets and of course there’s the labor of love of harvesting them straight from your own garden.

But wintertime can pose a new set of challenges, so unless you live under the sunny skies of California or Florida, your best bet is to head to the market and hope for the best.

At certain times of the winter I can find plastic containers of potted basil plants in the produce section of my grocery store. As soon as I spy them, I pick one or two up and plant in a container to keep on my counter. Not only is it convenient for fresh cooking, but it gives a perk of brightness to an otherwise dreary winter view.

continue to the recipe… about Chicken Caprese Sandwich

Melted Mozzarella Caprese Crostini Toasts

Whether you take the fancier route and name them crostini, or keep it real and call them toasts, these Italian crostini caprese appetizer bites with roasted tomatoes, prosciutto, and melted mozzarella cheese on sliced baguette are so easy to whip up everyone will be calling for more.

This recipe is brought to you by Cache Valley Cheese

Today I’m taking two favorite recipes (caprese and grilled cheese) and combining them for a simple finger food twist for the old appetizer plate.

This bite-sized appetizer is one of those that you’re going to come back to making time and time again. And here’s why:continue to the recipe… about Melted Mozzarella Caprese Crostini Toasts

Roasted Tomato and Burrata Caprese Salad

The sweetness from just-picked garden tomatoes is hard to find year round, so I roast my tomatoes on a foil-lined sheet pan to give them an irresistible candied flavor in this summery caprese salad.

I created this recipe in partnership with Reynolds Wrap as part of their Endless Table series (have you seen their stunning Instagram account yet? Tip: Look at it in grid view!) because I want to share one of my kitchen secrets with you, the secret that produces some of the freshest salad flavors that, SURPRISE! are thanks to your oven!

Caprese salad is probably my hands down, most favorite, go-to salads…ever.

I’ve made it with avocado. I’ve made it with cantaloupe. I’ve made it with quinoa. I’ve made it as a spiralized zucchini salad and of course I’ve made it traditional style with burrata and summer’s best heirloom tomatoes because what bone fide cheese lover (me!) doesn’t love burrata (I do!).

But there’s just one issue I have when it comes to making my favorite versions of caprese salad.

Flavorless tomatoes.

We’ve all been there. Tomatoes are out of season but you still have a craving for that juicy, sweet bite. You disregard your better intuition and after making that first slice with the knife, you whimper a bit after discovering you’ve been duped by that shiny red tomato’s outside, revealing a dry, flavorless inside.

That is when my caprese love goes swiftly downhill.

But I have the key to enjoying sweet tomatoes all year round, and all it takes is a scattering of tomatoes on a sheet pan lined with Reynolds Wrap to get the sweet job done.

continue to the recipe… about Roasted Tomato and Burrata Caprese Salad

Caprese Zucchini Salad with Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized

An interview with blogger Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized, about her new cookbook, plus a recipe for Caprese Zucchini Salad.

I bought my first spiralizer for a photo shoot 15 years ago at a Japanese market. It was green, looked a bit like an pterodactyl and I couldn’t read the instructions on how to use it. But I thought, “What a cool gadget.”

I’m all about the gadgets.

In 15 years, I used it once. I’ve since misplaced the blades to make thinner or thicker spiraled vegetables. It’s stuck on one setting. And now, after receiving Ali Maffucci’s cookbook Inspiralized, it might be time to upgrade.

Spiralizing veggies is all the rage, and I have a feeling that Ali has helped propel it into the mainstream because of her blog by the same name as her cookbook, Inspiralized.

Giving Ali all the credit for popularizing this cooking trend would be a little heavy handed, but since her decision in 2013 to dedicate an entire blog to one single cooking method, she’s garnered a legion of fans who are visiting her blog (over 2 million page views a month) and putting their own spin on healthy eating too.

So maybe more than a little credit should go to this 28 year old entrepreneur.

Hailing from the fine state of New Jersey where she currently lives with her fiance, Lu, this former vegan’s introduction to spiralizing came from where many of us learned our cooking secrets—from her mom. But her mother wasn’t simply trying a new food trend. Instead, she was saving her own life by changing her eating style, then shared this new way to prepare vegetables and fruits with her daughter.

Breakfast, lunches, dinners and yes, even desserts, can be spiralized. Ali’s recipe for Caprese Zucchini Salad is just one of the 80 in her new book and it’s the one I’ll be sharing at the end of this post.continue to the recipe… about Caprese Zucchini Salad with Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized

Quinoa and Burrata Caprese Salad and 8 Favorite Whole Food Blogs

Everyone’s favorite caprese salad with tomatoes, basil and creamy burrata cheese gets a protein boost thanks to the addition of healthy quinoa.

There are few ingredients that have made as big a splash on the current food trend scene, with as quick of a rise in popularity—and I’m not talking bacon here—than the superfood we call quinoa. It’s pronounced, keen-wa, but I’ve heard tongue-tied foodies say kwiin-wa and even kwin-O-uh.

However it’s name passes your pearly lips, quinoa has definitely made an impression on food bloggers and their recipes. Heck, it’s made an impression on the world, with 2013 being named the “International Year of Quinoa” by The United Nations General Assembly thanks to its potential to assist in eradicating world hunger.

Quinoa is an ancient grain, revered as a staple in the diet of the pre-Columbian Andean and Incan people who harvested it over 7,000 years ago. But until the past few years, quinoa was anything but a favored alternative to potatoes, rice and pasta. It wasn’t the chosen one cuddling up to the grilled chicken on your plate. But I’m here to tell you my theory on what helped change that.continue to the recipe… about Quinoa and Burrata Caprese Salad and 8 Favorite Whole Food Blogs

Healthy Caprese Breakfast Sandwiches

Healthy breakfast sandwiches you can make fast at home can be the saving grace when you don’t have time to eat at the start of your day.

This recipe is brought to you by Dave’s Killer Bread

We’ve all lived in that split-decision moment of choosing whether to make your healthy breakfast at home, or say there’s not enough time and instead do the drive thru cruise to pick up a bagel and coffee or a not-always-so-good-for-you breakfast sandwich on the go.

The thing is, you can totally have the best of both worlds.

Breakfast sandwiches don’t have to be exclusive to the drive thru and are one of the easiest solutions to your morning meal dilemma—and a healthy one at that.

Whether it’s a make-ahead freezer breakfast sandwich, egg and avocado toast on the fly, or an egg sandwich cooked in the microwave, breakfast sandwiches made at home (or at the office) are the quick and easy way to get breakfast on the go.continue to the recipe… about Healthy Caprese Breakfast Sandwiches

Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese Flatbread

This caprese flatbread recipe is an easy way to take advantage of the best of the season’s fresh tomatoes, basil, and of course mozzarella, making it the perfect appetizer bite or as an easy vegetarian dinner.

Head to the farmers market this time of year and you’ll see everyone around freaking out over the bulbous beauty of the heirloom tomatoes and just-off-the-vine-still-warm-from-the-sunshine beefsteaks.

I think they’re lovely too. But my fave tomato this time of year are the sweet cherry tomatoes I can pop straight in my mouth like candy.

Awwwww, who am I kidding? I love these baby tomatoes any time of year.

A few weeks ago I photographed the new winter menu of one of my favorite clients, Deer Valley Resort in Park City, UT. If you haven’t yet been to Park City and Deer Valley, it’s a destination to put on your bucket list, not only for winter skiing, but truly any time of the year.

This time around we shot photos for the new menu items for their low-key bar and restaurant The Brass Tag. But where does that name come from? Back in the day aka around 1890, the silver boom was huge in Park City and local miners would hang a brass tag before entering the silver mines to work. When the day was done, if there was tag still hanging on the board, it was time to start a search for the miner. Think of it as the low-tech GPS system of yesteryear.

This easy to make caprese-style flatbread pizza was just one of the items we shot that day, and after looking at it through the lens, and then taking a bite (okay, maybe more), I knew it was something you guys would love to make at home.

continue to the recipe… about Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese Flatbread

Grilled Caprese Skewers

Summer grill time certainly shouldn’t be limited to meats and burgers, bring on the tomatoes and sturdy halloumi or bread cheese for my Grilled Caprese Skewers.

“Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all.”

~ Abraham Lincoln

and

“We are all feeding from each other, all the time, every day.”

~ Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

I’m not usually one to pepper my blog with inspirational quotes from famous/infamous people. And you absolutely won’t see me write, “According to Webster’s dictionary…” when I’m stumped on how to introduce a post, when the creative juices simply aren’t flowing. It’s just kind of the cheater way out in my opinion, but hey, I’m not judging. And besides, doesn’t everyone use Wikipedia now?

But for the reasons I have today, I thought these quotes fell into the appropriate category because they indeed describe the lack of originality, or at least the increasing commonality, of how recipes come about and how they’re shared.

I mean, how many different ways, really, are there to cook a burger or make a classic chicken divan casserole? And what about pound cake? Prime example of how ingredients can’t be copyrighted. It’s all in how you describe the process that makes it your own.

It’s one reason why this summer I’ve been posting more basic recipes, favorite recipes, because it’s summer and I for one am craving a little simplicity. Let’s blame it on the heat.

continue to the recipe… about Grilled Caprese Skewers

Avocado Caprese Wrap

Whether its a celebratory lunch for a crowd or just a quick bite for one, making Avocado Caprese Wraps are a filling and healthy way to take a bite out of summer.

I’m guessing I’m like a lot of you round about this time of summer. Fresh flavors are being craved by my taste buds sending shockwaves of recipe ideas to my hot little head. But with the daydreams of swimsuits and pool time on this hot, dry days, lighter fare is always on my mind.

I don’t know if I will ever tire of the classic caprese. Salads, sandwiches, pastas. You could turn this thing into a taco or french toast and I’d eat it. Weak in the knees. It’s what I’ve become. Prepare to see more.

And now, this wrap. It tingles my palate.

continue to the recipe… about Avocado Caprese Wrap

Cantaloupe and Mozzarella Caprese Salad

Sweet balls of cantaloupe sub for tomatoes and pair nicely with salty shaved prosciutto in this simple twist on the classic caprese salad.

How ’bout them melons? And what about these balls?

Wink-wink and tongue in cheek, get your head out of the gutter people, we’re not talking body parts, instead it’s all about this fresh, bootylicious salad.

With my garden tomatoes still clawing their way toward sweet fruit-ition, I’m patiently awaiting to harvest my ‘mates to make my favorite caprese salad with my very own, homegrown tomatoes.

Who am I kidding. I’m not patient at all.

That’s why I’m jumping the line and moving forward anyway by subbing tomatoes with local, sweet cantaloupe. Don’t worry tomatoes, I’ll be back. But until then, this salad is totally turning my head and making me stare with each and every bite.

continue to the recipe… about Cantaloupe and Mozzarella Caprese Salad

Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

My mantra? The simpler the recipe, the more imperative the need for extraordinary ingredients. Case in point: my Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad.

Okay, Okay. I’m pretty sure I know what you’re thinking.

Yes, I have gone a bit bonkers on the tomato recipes of late. And yes, this basic summer salad barely constitutes an entire blog post. But I realized something when I was looking over my recipes that include the summertime C word, like my Avocado Caprese Wrap, Grilled Caprese Skewers, Quinoa and Burrata Caprese Salad and my Caprese Sandwich with Arugula and Olive Spread.

I realized that the actual basic caprese salad was the missing link in my recipe repertoire.

Plus, once we pulled this dish together I knew those heirloom tomatoes were too darn pretty not to share.

Let’s call this recipe an impulse post. Sadly I have no new impulse-purchased shoes to go with it.continue to the recipe… about Burrata and Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

Microwave Egg Caprese Breakfast Cups

This hot homemade ham, egg and caprese-flavored breakfast can be in yo’ belly in just two minutes thanks to a quick cook in the microwave. Yes, this is how you can easily cook eggs in the microwave.

Hi! I’m Heidi and I’ll be serving you today. What can I get you?

One of the recent requests here on le bloggity blog is for more easy recipes for quick breakfasts please!

I totally get it. We all know that a good breakfast is the key to setting up your day for success so if you could create a weekend-tasting breakfast in the time it takes to pour a bowl of cereal, I’m betting you’d totally be into this breakfast that fully supports your snooze button needs. (Have you seen my list of 19 healthy breakfasts when you don’t have time to eat?!!)

And that’s why the microwave is your egg cooking friend.

continue to the recipe… about Microwave Egg Caprese Breakfast Cups

30-Minute Caprese Chicken Recipe

With just a few simple ingredients including store-bought pesto and balsamic, you can make this healthy, stand out, one-pan chicken breast dinner in under 30 minutes.

This recipe is brought to you by DeLallo Foods

There are many things that fall brings, but at our house, extra time in the day is not one of them.

Because there’s work. Why, oh WHY didn’t I win the lottery? And there’s school. “Oh mama,” she earnestly vents, “why did it have to start again??” There’s soccer practice, homework, mama-daughter volunteer work, dog walks, another new project for 2017 I’m busily finishing up, and those summer vacations that have turned into fall trips we are trying our darndest to squeeze in before old man winter wraps us in blankets and bribes us to join him to cocoon on the couch.

But we’re doing our best and adapting to the new normal, just like we do every year. And I’m taking one guess that you are too.

Instead of going out, eating at home at the end of days like these is actually a true time-saver. And when we plan ahead with the grocery shopping to avoid the dreaded question of “what’s for dinner?” one-pan recipes like this 30-minute chicken wonder actually make cooking at home, dare I say, enjoyable.

It truly doesn’t get much easier than this.

continue to the recipe… about 30-Minute Caprese Chicken Recipe

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Frico Cups

Simple, summery and a great little appetizer with a salty parmesan bowl of its own, these Heirloom Tomato Caprese Frico Cups make singing the swan song to summer a little easier.

With the long days turning shorter and my summer escapes coming to a quick end, I’ve been weaning my cravings for simple summer recipes and tank top wearing tan lines and replacing them with thoughts of long oven braises and pulling an ear hugging beanie over my chilly head as I search through my closet for those knit gloves I bought last year that have the touchy things on the tips of the fingers so I can still use my iPhone once the weather turns cold. Those things are genius.

Fall flavors are giving summer bounty a bit of a shove off and I’m not sure how sad I am about it.

Maybe that’s because my garden SUCKS this summer. With a capital S.U.C.K.S.

My stringy and nearly leafless heirloom tomato plants—the ones I was so excited to cultivate so I could pluck juicy mater orbs straight from the vine and take a big old bite out of their still warm flesh—are as lifeless and lilting as a 6 foot, 95-pound fashion model prepping for her fall debut on the catwalk.

Straight up sad I tell you.

And what’s worse is no matter how hard I try, my tomato loving cravings for recipes like Heirloom Tomato BLTs, Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes and my fave weeknight freshie of Avocado, Onion and Tomato Salad have not ebbed the tide. And last year’s post of 55 Fresh and Tasty Tomato Recipes? This year, it’s been a question if I would make it to 56.

Until now.

The thing I love about heirloom tomatoes is how imperfect they are. Let’s just say I can relate. Some are on the pudgy side with a too-tight-in-the-jeans muffin top, some are are cracked and crooked. And for most the color is never quite the same so slicing them to see the rainbow of color inside is always a fun surprise.

continue to the recipe… about Heirloom Tomato Caprese Frico Cups

Caprese Sandwich with Arugula and Olive Spread

Summer means beach. And beach means sandwiches. And the ultimate beach sandwich go-to-spot is an Italian deli in Santa Monica, where if you’re a local, you know to arrive by 10:30 a.m. or you’ll be waiting in a line that goes out the door, giving you plenty of time to check out the beautiful-people-that-know-they-are and peruse the imported Italian oils, pastas and anchovies.

A Santa Monica institution, Bay Cities, serves The Godmother, their signature sandwich loaded with genoa salami, mortadella, coppacola, ham, prosciutto and provolone, and my husband’s favorite when it’s with “the works.” But I’m satisfied with a bite of my husbands sandwich—he’s quit complaining about my “bites” after all these years.

For me its all about the fresh mozzarella and so I go for the Caprese. Fresh and simple and hopefully I’ll still look okay in my swimsuit.

We’re not at the beach anymore but I’m still a sucker for fresh mozzarella—not the kind in the package, you need a great buffalo variety or one soaked in water— fresh sliced tomatoes and basil. But on my version I like to add a slathering of kalamata olive spread (Trader Joe’s is my go-to), fresh fruity olive oil, bold balsamic vinegar and spicy arugula.

I’ve become less of a ground pepper fan in the past few years, but this is one dish I don’t chintz on. And the bread. It’s really all about the bread. Grocery store varieties just don’t cut it, so a trip to the farmer’s market or a local bakery is always in order.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

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Caprese Sandwich with Arugula and Olive Spread

Fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese make this sandwich Recipe a summer time favorite.

Ingredients

2 slices sourdough or other sturdy bread like a foccacia
2 thick cut slices of fresh buffalo mozzarella
2 thick slices of tomato
1/2 cup arugula leaves
1 -2 T olive spread
fruity olive oil
balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Spread the olive spread on the bottom slice of bread. Drizzle olive oil on top slice of bread. Load on tomato slices, mozzarella and arugula. Drizzle balsamic on top of arugula and more olive oil if desired. Salt and pepper. Eat.

If you’re looking for a variation on the traditional tomato/basil combo, check out these inventive ideas from some of our favorite foodie bloggers, get slicing and start eating.

photo > Big Girls Small Kitchen

Based on a revered sandwich Phoebe discovered at the Martha Vineyard eatery Slice of Life, her and Cara’s Big Girl Small Kitchen‘s Fried Multicolored Tomato BLTs with Basil-Chive Mayo is an ingenious way to use up those not-quite-ripe-but-can’t-bear-to-let-them-go green tomatoes, and a sure way to keep summer in your sights.

photo > Love & Olive Oil

With the contrast in colors of green zebra tomatoes, red heirlooms and purple-ey kalamatas complementing the crusty sourdough and perfectly creamy and white goat cheese, you can see where the artist in Lindsay came to play in Love & Olive Oil ‘s Toasted Tomato, Basil and Goat Cheese Sandwiches. Oh my, it looks good enough to eat.

photo > Lucullian Delights

Living my dream as she cooks and photographs while living in idyllic Italy (my dream’s version of Under the Tuscan Sun is minus Diane Lane thank you) Ilva marries Italian with an asian-inspired wasabi spiked avocado in Lucullian Delights Summer Sandwich with White Beans and Cherry Tomatoes on Avocado and Wasabi Butter.

photo > The Lonely Bean

Now this is a simple spin on caprese I’ve never thought of. Sauteéd shitakes drizzled with aromatic and dee-vine truffle oil? Claire is a visionary with The Lonely Bean‘s Sherry Sauteed Shiitakes with Goat Cheese, Arugula, Tomato and Truffle Oil (cue spooky voice) I see the future, and this sandwich is miiiiiinnnnne.

And if you’re hanging around the house this weekend and thinking, “Hey! I want to bake!”, make it a holiday cookie and submit it to our 50 Best Holiday Cookie Recipes. Submit your holiday cookie by September 1 .

Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, please subscribe to foodiecrush and follow me on twitter, Facebook and Pinterest

Peach Panzanella Salad with Burrata and Bacon

This recipe is not your classic, traditional Italian or Greek panzanella salad, because with sliced sweet peaches, savory bacon, and gooey burrata crunched with sourdough bread chunks and dressed in an easy to make golden balsamic vinegar dressing, this healthy-ish salad goes well beyond the regular old panzanella each and every meal of the day.

Here we are, just three days into spring, and I’m already counting down the days to summer. That would be 72 if you’re wondering.

It’s not the hazy, lazy summer days lounging at the pool I’m waiting for (although that IS always on my summer happiness list), it’s the food I’m craving now. After a winter of simmering soups and savory stews, this girl is ready for the fresh, bright colors of salads of every color. And if it said salad has even a hint of caprese salad fixings—which I classify as a salad that includes some sort of mozzarella dressed in olive oil and balsamic and topped with basil—I am so 100% all over it.

It’s just one reason why I stopped dead in my flipping-the-pages-tracks while perusing the new cookbook of one of my favorite friends, then swiftly scoped my pantry stock for golden balsamic vinegar, checked on my countertop basil plant to be sure it hadn’t expired due to dehydration (those babies dry out fast!), and then headed straight to the grocery store for three loves of my foodie loving life: peaches, burrata, and bacon. Okay, make that four loves, with sourdough bread too.continue to the recipe… about Peach Panzanella Salad with Burrata and Bacon

How to Make a Stunning Caprese Salad Platter

Laying all your favorite caprese salad ingredients—like burrata cheese, marinated mozzarella balls, tomatoes and fresh stone fruit—out on a platter instead of layered in a bowl makes this self-serve salad or appetizer the easiest way to choose all your favorite bites.

It’s like everyone’s favorite cheese board mated with all the best caprese-inspired ingredients, and they had a baby. Pass around the cigars, because the caprese salad platter has arrived.

It’s all to common to spy an amazing salad loaded with all of the good stuff, only to dig in, all the good stuff shifts, and then falls to the bottom of the bowl and you’re left diving for that coveted mozzarella ball.

That’s why salad platters have become my new go-to salad serving solution, so you can serve larger portions of each of the ingredients—because my favorite cream-filled burrata cheese isn’t all that chopping friendly—rather than bite-sized bits of bites.

I first shared this salad platter trick with this Ultimate Italian Salad Platter. When you serve this salad family-style in the middle of the table, everyone can add “just a little more” and choose their favorite ingredients, and then nibble at the leftovers until the entire platter is picked clean because it’s just too good to stay away.

ABOUT THE RECIPE

This salad platter is less of a recipe and more an assemblage of toppings. Feel free to adapt and switch up according to your tastes and favorites, or simply by whatever you might happen to have on hand for those unexpected, but totally welcome drop-ins.

Traditional caprese flavors dominate this salad platter with a few sweet bites of fruit tossed in. A few fresh fruity ingredient options are:continue to the recipe… about How to Make a Stunning Caprese Salad Platter

Caprese Pasta Salad with Garlic Marinated Tomatoes

This easy caprese pasta salad recipe steeps cherry tomatoes in a garlic-infused oil that becomes the dressing over any type of pasta with sliced mozzarella, capers, lemon, and basil making it a healthy potluck recipe that’s perfectly ripe for brunch, lunch, or a dinner everyone will love.

This is a re-do of one of my favorite tomato pasta salad recipes I published my first year of blogging. I’ve been making this caprese pasta salad on repeat ever since the clock struck summer, but it’s very likely that many of you haven’t ever even seen it, and that’s a darn shame because it’s just too good to miss.

So after looking at it so many times already this summer, I thought it could use a refresh. And so here it is once again, with a spit shine, some new photos, and a video to show you easy it will be for you to make it too.

I’m a huge fan of summer’s fresh tomatoes, especially when my garden starts producing my beloved cherry tomatoes I pop straight into my mouth like candy. So back in August of 2011 when I spied this recipe on the Martha Stewart Living cover peeking over the others on the grocery store rack, there wasn’t a question whether the issue would be coming home with me.

And that’s why this salad has been in my summer recipe-making-repertoire ever since.continue to the recipe… about Caprese Pasta Salad with Garlic Marinated Tomatoes