Caprese Bites

This is where you need a smellable screen.

You don’t actually have to write anything about how caprese tastes, smells, or looks, what it is or how to prepare it. A simple ingredients list is enough to get me salivating.

I ? Caprese.

You can scrawl it on a wall, sing a silly song about me and caprese sitting in a tree, I don’t mind, I’m not ashamed.

I’m also incredibly fond of social eating, of sharing things. I love mezze, tapas and finger foods. It’s partially the fun and joy of sharing many things, discussing them, passing them around the table, and partially the fact that I am greedy and curious, and like to try as many different things as I can.

So, what I really needed to find is a way to combine this kind of fingery foody way of eating with caprese, so that I could be full of happiness. I’ve found it, and now I’m sharing it, so that you can be all happy and shiny people too.

You can serve them as an appetiser, or just eat them as an evening snack with a couple of bottles glasses of nice crisp wine.

You can use either grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. They are very close to each other in texture and taste, the biggest difference is the shape. Use whichever you prefer, preferably whichever are more locally grown.

You can use any decent quality mozzarella, but I love mozzarella di bufala, it’s softer and creamier, slightly saltier and with a more robust taste than mozzarella made from cow’s milk. Sadly, it’s also more expensive and harder to find, but I really do believe that it’s worth the effort/expense.

Pick the most fragrant bunch of basil that you can find, and don’t chop it too many times as it bruises easily.

Wash the tomatoes and chop each one in half.

Cut the mozzarella into thick slices slightly larger than the diameter of a tomato.

Pick large basil leaves and cut each one in half down the centre of the leaf.

Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a ratio of about 4:1, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Onto each skewer, thread 1 tomato half, followed by a piece of basil, a slice of cheese, and then finish with the other half of the tomato.

Drizzle the dressing over each skewer, and sprinkle with a little sea salt.