🍅 Caprese
Caprese is an Italian starter of sliced fresh mozzarella and ripe tomatoes layered with basil leaves and finished with olive oil, salt and pepper. Nothing is cooked: the soft, milky cheese, the juicy tomato and the fragrant basil carry the dish, so it depends entirely on good, in-season produce. It is served cold as an antipasto or a light lunch.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g fresh mozzarella
- 3 ripe tomatoes (about 400 g)
- 1 small bunch fresh basil
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into rounds about 1 cm thick.
- Arrange them on a plate, alternating and overlapping, with a basil leaf between each slice.
- Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil just before serving.
How to make it lighter
- Measure the olive oil with a spoon: 1 tbsp ≈ 120 kcal, so the 2 tbsp in this recipe add about 120 kcal to each plate.
- Use more tomato and less mozzarella on the plate to lower the calories per serving.
- Choose light mozzarella or a smaller ball if you are counting closely.
History
Caprese means 'from Capri', and the salad is generally associated with the island in the Bay of Naples. Its red, white and green colours are often said to echo the Italian flag; it became widely known across Italy and abroad in the second half of the 20th century.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →