But what is Caprese salad to begin with? It’s an Italian salad that consists of sliced mozzarella and tomatoes. Olive oil is drizzled over them, salt is sprinkled in and fresh basil is added before serving. Caprese salad is traditionally served as a starter course rather than as a side dish.
But this isn’t a recipe for Caprese salad although it was heavily inspired by it. This salad has soft goat cheese. The texture resembles cream cheese but the flavor is richer.
There are potato slices in this salad too which makes it more substantial. If you serve it with bread on the side, it can be a full light meal.
Before diving into the recipe, a few tips for the salad assembly. Ideally, you should have equal number of slices for all three ingredients. For two persons, about six slices each of tomatoes, potatoes and cheese.
About the seasonings and aromatics… I used herbed goat cheese so I didn’t add any pepper to the salad. If using plain goat cheese, you may want to add some freshly ground black pepper.
Ingredients
- 2 small to medium waxy potatoes
- salt
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 2 to 3 plump red juicy tomatoes
- 45 grams goat cheese
- sugar
- 6 large sweet basil leaves thinly sliced
- extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes under the tap.
- Place the scrubbed potatoes in a pan, cover with water, and add the salt and vinegar.
- Bring the potatoes to the boil, cover the pan, lowet the heat and simmer until a knife inserted through the thickest part goes all the way to the center with just the slightest resistance.
- Scoop out the potatoes and dump in a bowl of iced water.
- Slice the tomatoes.
- Slice the goat cheese.
- Peel the potatoes and slice.
- Sprinkle the tomatoes with a little sugar.
- Sprinkle the potatoes with a little salt.
- Arrange the tomatoes, potatoes and cheese alternately in a plate to form a circle.
- Sprinkle the basil leaves over them.
- Drizzle with olive oil and serve.
