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“Insalata Caprese – 8 Ways to Enjoy Summer's Best”

One of our favorite things about summer? Real tomatoes! You know, the red ones, pulled from the vine, with garden dust, still warm from the sun. Fortuitously, the tomato crop comes at the same time as bushels of basil. Add fresh mozzarella cheese, and the table possibilities are endless!

IN THIS ISSUE, it’s all about tomatoes and mozzarella and the scrumptious, summer dishes you can make with this famous pairing. From the classic insalata Caprese, to a pasta salad, easy sandwiches, delicious appetizers, you’ll be inspired. We even demonstrate how to make your own fresh mozzarella.

Insalata Caprese

Translated, insalata Caprese means “salad in the style of Capri.” It’s a simple salad that embodies the August confluence of plentiful tomatoes and basil. In the classic version of insalata Caprese, quarter-inch slices of tomatoes and fresh mozzarella are alternately overlapped with fresh basil leaves are tucked in here and there. A drizzle of olive, a sprinkling of sea salt, and a grind of black pepper complete the plate. It’s the perfect summer dish – super simple, completely satisfying.

How do you pronounce “Caprese?”
http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=caprese

“In the style of Capri” refers to the island of Capri located just off the east coast of Italy in the “ankle” region of Naples. The small island gained notoriety as a destination for artists, writers, and elites in recent history. The featured local, seasonal ingredients boldly celebrate the colors of the Italian flag “in the style of Capri.”

Often served as an antipasto, insalata Caprese’s classic flavors easily translate into other shapes and forms on the appetizer tray.

Appetizer Spoons – a bite full of flavor!
Dice cherry or grape tomatoes and fresh mozzarella into half-inch pieces. Place in appetizer spoons, garnish with minced fresh basil, a drizzle of olive, and a few dots of balsamic reduction.

Caprese Kabobs – salad on a toothpick!
Cut small cherry tomatoes in half, roll ciliegine-sized fresh mozzarella in your favorite pesto, and thread on a long toothpick. Include a small

Pesto Pinwheels
(1) Sheets of fresh mozzarella are available. Fill with alternating stripes of tomato pesto and basil pesto.
(2) Carefully fold the filled cheese into a roll and cut into quarter-inch thin slices.
(3) Place the slices on thin slices of fresh or toasted baguette. They’re heavenly!

Tomato & Mozzarella Basics:

These two ingredients hardly need any introduction. If you’ve ever made or eaten pizza, you’re well acquainted with the combo. There are few nuances, however, that you might find interesting:

The Tomato
Early Girl, Beefsteak, Sweet 100’s, Grape, Heirlooms – these are just some of the hundreds of available tomato varieties. Tomatoes are a great example of “local is best,” and summer is replete with “the real thing.” The rest of the year is a challenging time for tomato lovers. In his book, “Tomatoland,” the James Beard award-winning author, Barry Estabrook, offers a modern history of the tomato and concludes that what we find as fresh fruit in grocery stores is bred for durability in transportation and appearance, not for flavor. (Radio Interview – Fresh Air with Terry Gross http://www.npr.org/2011/06/28/137371975/how-industrial-farming-destroyed-the-tasty-tomato). Fortunately, tomatoes are available in the off-season in canned and sun-dried forms. You’ll find the best tomatoes grown locally at the farmer’s market, or perhaps from your own garden.

The Mozzarella
This very popular cheese has a mild flavor and takes on different personalities. Fresh mozzarella is a soft cheese often sold as balls or logs. It has a very white appearance and domestically is made from cow’s milk. More authentically, mozzarella is made from water buffalo’s milk. Low-moisture mozzarella is sold in bricks or pre-shredded packages and has had more water drained from the cheese. Scamorza (affumicata) is smoked mozzarella and can add a great flavor dimension to some dishes.

Popular Fresh Mozzarella Shapes
Ciliegine – “small cherry,” is fresh mozzarella about the size of, well, a cherry.
Bocconcini – “small mouthfuls,” is fresh mozzarella balls about the size of a cherry tomato
Ovalini – “small oval” is fresh mozzarella about 4 ounces in size, and egg-sized.

RECIPE: Flaky Tomato Tartlets with Mozzarella and Crackly Basil

These super-easy tartlets create a fast and very tasty lunch. Frozen puff pastry sheets provide the canvas, prepared sun-dried tomato pesto adds major flavor, and the fresh tomato slices with just barely melted fresh mozzarella, top it all off. Fresh basil leaves crisped in the microwave provide the perfect garnish.

Recipes from Tomatoes & Mozzarella by Hallie Harron and Shelley Sikora. Copyright © 2006. Reprinted with permission of Harvard Common Press, Boston, MA. All rights reserved.

Recipe Riffs:
(1) Try a basil pesto instead of the sun-dried tomato pesto for equally tasty results.

(2) Customize the size of your tartlets for different occasions. The luncheon size, as presented, is based on a 5-inch square of puff pastry. Try 3-inch squares featuring slices of cherry tomatoes for an appetizer, or 1-inch squares with slices of grape tomatoes for one-bite hors d’oeurves.

(3) Fold the squares of puff pastry diagonally corner-to-corner and crimp to seal. With the pesto, fresh tomato slices, and mozzarella as the filling, the tartlets become turnovers.

RECIPE: How to Make Fresh Mozzarella

For most of us, cheese comes from a refrigerator shelf. In reality, it comes from milk, and milk comes from cows (or goats, sheep, water buffalo, or other ruminant, grazing animal). If you’ve never tried making your own cheese, you’ll find it’s easier than you think and provides a ton of rewarding fun for all ages. There are many ways to make mozzarella, here’s what worked for us:

Ingredients:
1 gallon of whole milk
1/2 rennet tablet (or liquid equivalent)
1-1/2 tsp. citric acid
3/4 cup water, divided
1 teaspoon plain salt
Storing Brine: 1 T. plain salt per 1 cup of water

Equipment:
Large 5 qt pot
Stirring Spoon
Long Knife
Large, Fine-mesh strainer
Cheesecloth
Bowl for storing

(1) Start with a gallon of fresh milk. It can be homogenized and pasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized.

(2) Have 1/2 tablet of rennet and 1-1/2 teaspoons citric acid measured and ready for dissolving.

(3) Heat the milk gradually to 88°F. A candy thermometer works well for accurately measuring temperature.

(4) Dissolve citric acid in 1/2 cup cold water and add to the warmed milk, stir gently. Dissolve the rennet tablet in 1/4 cup cold water, add to the milk, stir gently. Cover the pot, remove from the heat, and let sit undisturbed for about two hours, or until the curd has separated from the whey.

(5) Test for a “clean break.” Place a wooden spoon at the edge. The curd has set when the clear, greenish whey liquid is distinct from the white curd.

(6) With a knife, gently cut the curd into approximately 1-inch pieces, first cutting perpendicularly, then cutting at an angle. This will help the curd to heat evenly in the next step.

(7) Gently heat the cut curd and whey to 108°F and keep at that temperature for 30 minutes; stir every 5 minutes to promote even heating and to prevent any sticking to the pot’s bottom.

(8) With a larger strainer lined with cheesecloth, transfer the curds and whey and allow the clear whey to drain into a large bowl for 10 minutes.

(9) Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of plain salt on the curd and mix gently. Heat the drained, salted curd for 1 minute in the microwave. Press and drain away any additional whey.

(10) Gather the hot curds into a ball and knead as you would for bread dough.

(11) Reheat for 30 seconds in a microwave, and knead again. The cheese should be stretchable at this temperature. Stretch and fold 5-7 times developing a smooth surface.

(12) Shape into a ball and place in cool, salted water (1T. plain salt per 1 cup of water) for storing in the refrigerator for up to a week.

(13) Or, eat it at its best and enjoy immediately!

Cheesy Notes & Tips:

Use pasteurized, homogenized milk, but NOT ultra-pasteurized. If the milk is ultra-pasteurized, it must be marked as such; read the label carefully. One gallon of milk makes about 1 pound of cheese.

Citric acid is a white powder that helps to coagulate the milk’s proteins. Find it at a health food store, or pharmacy.

Rennet is a natural enzyme derived from animal or vegetables sources. Dissolve in cool water just before adding to the milk for maximum potency. You’ll find rennet at most grocery stores.

The sitting time for curd formation may vary based on a variety of factors. Be patient, we found that it took 2 hours for the curd to set and the whey to appear as a clear, greenish, watery liquid.

Use bottled water or distilled water to dissolve the rennet and the citric acid. The chlorine in some tap waters can inhibit the development of curds.

Mind your temperatures. The milk heats on the stovetop in two stages: the first at 88°F, and the second at 108°F. Strive for a gradual coming to temperature. Do not exceed the defined temperatures.

The cheese-making environment is slightly acidic. Use a nonreactive pot such as stainless steel, or enameled cast iron during the heating stages, and glass bowls for microwaving and storing.

Use a plain salt such as kosher salt or pickling salt; the salt should not contain iodine or anti-caking additives.

RECIPE: Pasta Salad with Roasted Tomatoes, Mozzarella, and Oil-Cured Olives

Pasta salad is always a summertime favorite. This version, however, went to the top of our “hit parade” with the first bite. Unique among pasta salads was the piquant sauce made from fresh roasted tomatoes – the pasta eagerly soaked up its flavors. The salad was then accessorized with dices of more fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, olives, and basil. The salad can be made in two steps or as a total do-ahead dish. The recipe called for orecchiette, but we used farfalle – choose any pasta shape with plenty of nooks and crannies, it will be delicious!

Recipes from Tomatoes & Mozzarella by Hallie Harron and Shelley Sikora. Copyright © 2006. Reprinted with permission of Harvard Common Press, Boston, MA. All rights reserved.

Basil & Pesto

Termed “King of the Herbs,” basil comes by bountiful bunches in August. This fast-growing herb packs a bushel of flavor in everything it graces. If you were foresighted, you planted your own this summer and have been diligently plucking the tips to force more branching and stall bolting.

Recipe for Basil Pesto
1 cup fresh basil leaves, removed from the stem, tightly packed
1-2 cloves sliced garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 T. lemon juice
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste

Wash basil leaves and dry in a salad spinner or pat dry. Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Parmesan in a food processor. Add 1 T. of lemon juice to prevent browning. Process to a fine texture, scrape down the sides as needed. Add olive oil gradually through the feed tube and incorporate.

Other herbs (cilantro or parsley), and other nuts (walnut, pepitas, or almonds) make good pesto variations.

Freezing Fresh Basil

Enjoy fresh basil all year long by freezing it. Pluck basil leaves from the stem, thoroughly wash, and spin or pat dry. Place in a food processor with olive oil to make a thick paste or add more oil for a thinner product. Place in a freezer zipper bag, flatten, and freeze. It’s easy to snap off hunks of the basil/oil mix whenever needed for pesto, soups, or sauces. Alternatively, freeze the basil puree in ice cube trays until frozen, then repackage in a freezer zipper bag. Washed leaves may also be placed whole on a baking sheet and placed in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-quality bag for future use.

Tangy Balsamic Reduction

We’ve all had wonderful restaurant plates with decorative drips and drizzles of some wonderfully tangy syrup. No doubt, it was a balsamic reduction. It’s a matter of debate whether insalata Caprese should include a drizzle of balsamic reduction or not. Frankly, we enjoy its addition and always prefer to include it our Caprese presentations. Balsamic vinegar is made from grapes, but unlike red wine vinegar, was never wine. Through special pressings and aging in flavor-imbuing wooden casks, balsamic vinegar develops into a magical ingredient in the kitchen.

To make your own balsamic reduction, simply reduce balsamic vinegar to one-quarter of its original volume. In a nonreactive pan over the lowest of heat, allow the warmed vinegar to evaporate. Two cups of balsamic vinegar should take at least two hours to reduce down to 1/2 cup of balsamic reduction. The end result should be syrup-like and coat the back of a spoon. A drop should “bead up” and hold its shape as it cools. Place the finished reduction in a squeeze bottle and store on the shelf next to your vinegars.

RECIPE: Grilled Cheese – Caprese-style

It’s the perfect August panini, grilled cheese, Caprese-style. This melt is a sensuous medley of many of the ingredients we’ve been talking about. Heat up your panini grill and build the layers:

Sourdough Bread
Red Onion Slices
Balsamic Reduction Drizzle
Fresh Tomato Slices
Basil Pesto
Sourdough Bread

RECIPE: Warm and Cold Tomato Salad

Lunch or light supper, this summer salad is another flavor stand-out. The taste combination was slightly reminescent of the classic bread salad, panzanella, but yet different in its more organized presentation. The recipe starts with a sauté of garlic, shallots and fresh tomatoes. (Right away you know it’s going to be good!) This fresh sauce forms the salad’s base, shreds of crunchy-fresh romaine form the next layer, and a warm open-faced sandwich of sourdough bread, fresh tomato slice and melted fresh mozzarella topped the plate. A dressing with herbes de Provence unified all the flavors together into one delectable dish.

Recipes from Tomatoes & Mozzarella by Hallie Harron and Shelley Sikora. Copyright © 2006. Reprinted with permission of Harvard Common Press, Boston, MA. All rights reserved.

Recipe Notes:
What are herbes de Provence?
This magical mix of herbs lends a distinctive personality to all that it graces. It’s a potion of herbs hailing from the Provence region of France. In dried form, it generally includes basil, fennel, savory, thyme, and lavender, and is easily available in pre-blended mixes.

Cookbook Review:

Tomatoes & Mozzarella, 100 Ways to Enjoy This Tantalizing Twosome All Year Long by Hallie Harron and Shelley Sikora. Copyright © 2006. Published by Harvard Common Press, Boston, MA.

Take two friends, add tomatoes and mozzarella and the possibilities are endless. These authors have shared a mere one hundred of their favorite recipes featuring these two classics in this focused cookbook. Though insalata Caprese may be the purest incarnation of these two partners, that’s only the an obvious side note in this gathering of recipes that takes us past the pinnacle of August and into the entire year. Tomatoes and mozzarella are featured in appetizers, salads, side dishes, and entrees in amazingly different ways. The recipes borrow inspiration from a number of cuisines and range from simple, no-cook preparations to more sophisticated dishes. We thought such a focused subject matter might get repetitive, but we found ourselves bookmarking nearly every recipe for a future kitchen foray.

Then, of course, there’s margherita pizza, too . . . so many more possibilities. Buon appetito, Caprese-style!