“Insano” Caprese Salad

What’s not to love about a cool Caprese salad of thickly sliced heirloom tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella drizzled with 15-year-aged balsamic vinegar? Nothing, except the price tag. Good ingredients are always worth the splurge–if you can–but let’s be honest, if the choice is between rent and a pound of yellow sunrise heirloom tomatoes, it’s going to be, “Hello Albertson’s cherry tomatoes!” Still, summer is for everyone and so are Caprese salads, goddamnit.
Here we took some decent cherry tomatoes and braised them in olive oil and herbs to give them more flavor–it’s a technique you can apply to tomatoes going into any number of dishes to make them richer-tasting. Plus, when you’re done you have a tomato/basil infused oil to use for dressings and sauces.
Confit Tomato Caprese
1 pound cherry tomatoes
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 oz. fresh mozarella
2 cans white beans
2 oz. basil
4 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Habanero pepper (or Serrano)
Tomato Vinaigrette
2 Tbs. sherry vinegar
4 Tbs. tomato infused olive oil
4 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Give yourself enough prep time to pan braise the tomatoes and then chill them for a couple hours (or overnight). These suckers are great warm, but different beasts when cold. Fill a large, deep pan with the olive oil, tomatoes, Habanero, garlic, shallots, 4 basil leaves and bring up gently–covered–to medium heat. You’re going to let this pan go for at least an hour, but check on it every 10 minutes to give it a little stir. Once the tomatoes seem close to bursting from their skins, remove from heat and let cool in the pan. Then strain the excess oil into a cup and set aside. Place the tomatoes in the fridge for a couple hours–along with the shallots, garlic and Habanero–to chill.
When you’re ready to plate, start by making the vinaigrette. Heat the infused olive oil in a small skillet. Add the fresh garlic and shallots and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add the vinegar and shake pan (beware of flames). Add salt and pepper to taste, and then the lemon juice, and remove from heat.
Chiffonade the rest of the basil into thin curly strips and toss in a mixing bowl with the drained white beans. Add the tomatoes (toss the Habanero) and the vinaigrette. Then gently toss with your hands, being sure not to pop the tomatoes. Slice the mozzarella into nice ovals and place them on a large serving plate. Now, top the cheese with the tossed salad.
Beverage: Hopf Helle Weisse
Soundtrack: Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express