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tomatoes, pesto, fresh basil, and mozzerella on a round clear platter with a blue tablecloth in the background

Pesto Caprese Salad

A simple, delicious Caprese salad recipe with pesto dressing; perfect as fancy, no-fuss salad to add to any dinner table.

Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword caprese, pesto, salad
Servings 4 people

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

  1. Prepare and assemble all of your ingredients (wash and slice the tomatoes, slice the cheese, etc).

  2. In a small bowl, combine the pesto and olive oil until a thin dressing.

  3. 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).

  4. 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.

  5. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

  1. 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.
  2. *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.