Lunch · Dinner
Italian Caprese
Summer Salad.
The salad every Italian summer table is built around. Buffalo mozzarella, the ripest tomatoes you can find, basil pesto, dried oregano and a thread of aged balsamic. Ten minutes and no cooking. This recipe serves two as a meal. Double it and lay it out on a platter when you have people over.
- Energy
- 1,830 kJ (435 kcal)
- Protein
- 22 g
- Fat
- 35 g
- Carbohydrate
- 9 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
- Net carbs
- 7 g
How to make it.
- 01
Take the mozzarella out of the fridge 20 minutes before you start. Cold mozzarella has no flavour. Tomatoes should never be in the fridge at all.
- 02
Slice the large tomatoes into thick rounds and halve the cherry tomatoes. Tear each mozzarella ball into four or five pieces with your hands rather than slicing it, so there are rough edges to catch the oil.
- 03
Arrange the tomatoes and mozzarella across two plates or one platter, overlapping loosely.
- 04
Dot the pesto over the top in small spoonfuls.
- 05
Drizzle with the olive oil, then the balsamic in a thin thread. Scatter the oregano, basil leaves, salt and pepper over everything.
- 06
Leave it for five minutes before eating so the salt draws the juice from the tomatoes into the oil. That is the dressing.
Why this meal works.
A caprese looks like a side dish, but with a whole ball of buffalo mozzarella each it is a proper meal with 22 grams of protein per serve and almost no carbohydrate. This is the kind of lunch I want you reaching for in warm weather instead of a sandwich, because it feeds your muscle, leaves your blood sugar untouched and takes ten minutes.
Buffalo mozzarella is a whole food cheese, made from milk, salt and culture and nothing else. Its protein and fat digest slowly and keep you satisfied for hours, which is exactly what you want when the goal is fat loss without hunger. You are not eating less here. You are eating food that does its job.
The fat in this salad is where the goodness is. Olive oil and pesto carry the fat soluble nutrients out of the tomatoes and into your body, and lycopene, the antioxidant that gives tomatoes their colour, is absorbed far better when eaten with oil. A dry salad with no oil is not a health food.
Oregano is not there for decoration. It is one of the most antioxidant rich herbs in the Mediterranean kitchen and it is what makes this taste like a summer in Italy rather than a supermarket caprese. Buy the dried Sicilian or Greek kind on the stem if you can find it.
Micronutrients on the plate.
- Calcium and vitamin B12 from the buffalo mozzarella for bones, nerves and energy.
- Lycopene, potassium and vitamin C from the tomatoes, for skin, heart and immune health.
- Vitamin K and polyphenols from the olive oil and basil, supporting blood vessels and calming inflammation.
- Carvacrol and rosmarinic acid from the oregano, both potent antioxidants.
- Iodine and selenium from the cheese, supporting thyroid function.
Make it yours.
- Feeding four? Double everything and serve it on one large platter in the middle of the table.
- Make it a bigger meal with a tin of drained white beans tossed through, a piece of grilled fish, or a slice of the Zucchini Scarpaccia on the side.
- Dairy free? Swap the mozzarella for a cup of white beans and a handful of toasted pine nuts. The protein will drop, so add the fish.
- No pesto? Torn basil, extra olive oil and a crushed garlic clove do the same job.
- Skip the balsamic glaze you see in cafes. Most are thickened with sugar. Aged balsamic vinegar is thick on its own and tastes better.
Ripe tomatoes, good cheese, real olive oil. Italy has never needed more than that. Buon appetito.
Enjoy!
With love, Serena ×