This homemade Pesto Caprese Salad is one of the most fresh, delicious, and simple ways to dress up your dinner table. This salad is beautiful, delicious, light, and oh-so easy to make!
How this recipe came to be
I created this recipe after visiting a fancy Italian restaurant with a friend years ago, where we were served a beautiful Caprese Salad as the appetizer, featuring a pesto dressing instead of the typical balsamic glaze dressing. While I do love those beautiful, thick and slightly sweet balsamic dressings (and the dark colour is so beautiful), I also loved this savoury, nutty version as well. Who doesn’t love a good pesto, am I right??
What is Caprese Salad?
Caprese Salad, is believed to have originated on the island of Capri, which is where it gets its name. I have most often seen it layered onto a serving platter in thick slices of fresh tomatoes, baby mozzarella, fresh basil, and finished with a drizzle of a thick, sweet balsamic dressing.
How to serve Caprese Salad
Serve this salad as an appetizer, or alongside just about any meal. I have often seen it served as a side dish for fancy dinners by friends, and I am personally very excited to add it my own menu more often as well! It’s one of those things that I tend to forget exists until I see it on a menu or on the table in front of me… Which is why I’m so happy to have finally made my own.
What is a traditional Caprese Salad dressing?
I have most often seen Caprese Salad served with a beautifully thick balsamic glaze dressing. For this version, I have opted for the savoury, nutty flavour of pesto to complete the dish, but honestly I really love making it both ways!
Can I make substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe?
Well first I guess I have to make a confession: I did for this recipe! I had to sub out the baby mozzarella for a regular soft mozzarella cheese because (go figure), they didn’t have what I needed when I made this! (Hence the lack of round cheese slices.)
As for the other ingredients, the only things I would be willing to substitute would be a different type of tomatoes (anything should work quite well), or a balsamic dressing if you prefer that over the dressing I’ve created here. Fresh basil and mozzarella cheese (no other type of cheese) are really integral (in my opinion) to making this recipe.
Pesto Caprese Salad
A simple, delicious Caprese salad recipe with pesto dressing; perfect as fancy, no-fuss salad to add to any dinner table.
Ingredients
- 2-3 Large ripe tomatoes washed and sliced
- 4-6 oz Baby or Buffalo mozzarella cheese (120-180g), thickly sliced
- Handful Fresh basil washed
- 2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp Basil pesto
- Salt optional*
- Freshly ground black pepper optional*
Instructions
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Prepare and assemble all of your ingredients (wash and slice the tomatoes, slice the cheese, etc).
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In a small bowl, combine the pesto and olive oil until a thin dressing.
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On a large serving platter (mine is about 12" diameter), arrange the ingredients in a spiral pattern, starting from the outside and working your way to the centre. Drizzle each piece with a bit of dressing as you go (I like the flavors to be nicely distributed, so I prefer to do it this way than just drizzling it over the whole thing at the end).
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Once the platter is full, decorate with a couple of extra basil leaves in the centre, and drizzle lightly with a bit more of the oil and pesto mixture. Sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper, if desired.
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Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Baby or Buffalo mozzarella is best for this recipe, but on the day I made this recipe, it was a little hard to find! That said, in a pinch, a regular soft mozzarella cheese will work just fine.
- *Salt and pepper are optional because some basil pesto will already be well seasoned and you may find that you don’t need the extra seasoning. To see if you would like to add salt and pepper, taste the dressing on the tip of your finger. Season your salad to taste.
Used in this recipe:
- Cutting board
- A good quality chef’s knife and paring knife
- Glass serving plate
- Regular bowls and spoons from the cupboard 🙂
- Recipe ingredients
See… Nothing too fancy, and I’m sure nothing you don’t already have!
If you make this recipe, let me know in the comments – I’d love to hear what you think! Or, have you ever had another version of the classic Caprese Salad? If so, what was it, and would you want to make it for yourself?
I’d love to hear! Back soon,
Naomi
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