Easiest And The Best Caprese Salad For Winter

TASTY WARM CAPRESE SALAD

This is a Caprese salad with a twist. The tasty warm Caprese salad is the winter version of one of Italy’s most popular salads. It’s super delicious as a starter and quick to prepare.

It’s the kind of recipe you make while your guests are chatting away. Like, from the microwave directly to the table. The preparations can be done in advance, but not the microwave bit. You want the basil aroma to fill the room!

I love quick and easy meals that I can prepare while my guests are having fun, without slaving away in the kitchen. And this is one of them!

Budget Friendly | Easy | Quick | Winter

PREP TIME: 10 mins

COOK TIME: 1 min

COURSE: Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish

CUISINE: Italian

EQUIPMENT: Microwave Oven

Ingredients

Mozzarella Cheese Not the softballs.
Fresh Large Tomatoes
Basil Pesto (I use the Woolworths S.A. pesto – it has a smooth oily consistency – not so dry. Alternatively, why not make your own Basil Pesto? It’s super easy.)

How to make the tastiest warm Caprese salad, ever!

Slice the cheese and tomatoes and put them into the guests’ respective plates you want to serve them on.
Microwave at full temperature until JUST before the cheese melts.
Garnish with one or two teaspoons of Basil Pesto.

Serve warm

Chef Secret!

Woolworth’s basil pesto has a touch of garlic (you can hardly taste it) and pine nuts. I usually buy a few containers at a time and freeze them for later use. It is one of those products that you just don’t want to run out of… very versatile!

Gift Ideas . . .

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Serve it as a light lunch!

The very first time I had a warm Caprese Salad was at Zurich airport. The warm salad was rolled into a pancake and served as a meal. I fell in love with it.

As I mentioned earlier, I love to prepare “something quick”, but at the same time, it must be super tasty.

And it must look good too. I passionately believe that 50% of the enjoyment of the meal lies in how attractive it is served. Once done, this light lunch looks extremely attractive when served on a white plate. Especially, if it’s an oblong-shaped plate.

A little bit off the subject, but a great tip that I love sharing. The next time you go shopping for dinnerware, look beyond the platter plates in terms of their purpose. Yes, they’re sold as platter plates, indicating a salad or some platter of some sort being served to a group of people. Many a shop assistant tried to keep a straight face when I end up buying 8 or 12, instead of just 1 or 2. I buy so many because I use them as dinner plates. You’ll be amazed at the compliments you’ll get with just a slight bit of creativity such as this. And it changes the entire look and feel of the meal you’re about to plate. Suddenly it looks so much more festive and chicer!

OK, back to our recipe. 🙂

Pancakes are easy and quick to make. Combine the warm Caprese salad with a pancake and you have an absolute winner for a light lunch. This is what you do…

Instead of serving the warm Caprese salad as we have it above, you tuck it into a pancake.
The finishing touch is to sprinkle a little bit of freshly chopped parsley over the pancake – to garnish, not to improve the taste!
Optional: Dress the pancake with a light cheese sauce (because you have lots of cheesiness inside the pancake).

Serve with a cold white wine such as a Riesling, and you’re home free.