You're going to want the freshest tomatoes, mozzarella and basil for this side dish. (If you grow your own tomatoes and basil, now's the time to use them!) Figure on half a tomato per person, so the recipe below serves four.
Ingredients
2 medium- to large-sized beefsteak tomatoes, ripe but firm
8 oz. ball of mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup olive oil
Salt
Pepper
More olive oil for brushing on the tomatoes (or use an oil spray)
Preparation, Cooking & Serving:
TOMATOES:
- Wash the tomatoes and slice them in half AT THE EQUATOR, not lengthwise through the stem. (This will help them hold together on the grill.) Remove the stem but leave all the skin on, or they'll fall apart on the grill.
- Sprinkle the cut side of the tomatoes with salt and pepper and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Brush or spray both sides of tomatoes lightly with olive oil and place cut-side down on a hot grill.
- Grill about 4-6 minutes until tomato is charred and starting to soften. Flip and grill another 4-6 minutes on the skin side.
- Remove from grill and set aside. These can be served warm or chilled.
BALSAMIC REDUCTION:
Stir balsamic vinegar and honey together in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes -- mixture will reduce by a quarter to a half. Whisk in the 1/8 cup olive oil and set aside to cool.
BASIL AND CHEESE:
- Cut the ball of mozzarella into slices at least 1/4 inch thick. You need one slice per tomato half.
- Rinse and dry your basil. Remove the basil leaves from the stem and stack the leaves about 10 at a time. Roll the stack tightly, lengthwise, and finely chop the roll. This is a pretty efficient way to get thinly chopped leaves.
CAPRESERS ASSEMBLE!
Two ways you can do this. 1: overlap alternating slices of tomato and mozzarella on a serving plate, like fallen dominoes. Or 2. on each person's plate, place a slice of tomato and top with a slice of mozzarella.
With either serving method, drizzle with balsamic dressing and top with chopped basil. Be sure to whisk together or shake the balsamic reduction before serving -- the oil and vinegar will separate as they sit.
A Little Backstory:
No one appreciates summer like a Minnesotan. Just six months ago -- to the day -- it was 28F degrees below zero, and today on June 30 the heat index is supposed to be 102F degrees (above zero, of course). Is it any wonder we focus so much on eating, grilling and being outside together during the summer months? Never go empty-handed to a summer dinner. And never shortcut your contribution. Let's practice this. It's BBQ season, so this is important and YOU GOT THIS -- whether you cook regularly or not.
Someone says: "I'm grilling steaks tonight, want to come over?"
You say: "Sure! Can I bring a salad?"
And instead of stopping by the grocery store for a wilty lettuce bag salad or a plastic tub of pre-made potato salad, you pick up fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil (plus the balsamic stuff, and you make it ahead of time, at home). Then you assemble this as the steaks are searing and absolutely knock their socks off with a beautiful, elegant, simple side dish you casually slide in between Aunt Bette's Jell-O concoction and the potato chips. Your family's worth the effort, and so are you.
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