When summer is the most sultry, I believe that less is more – less time at my desk, less clothing to hold on and less excitement in the kitchen. For these long, sweaty days, I need recipes that feel cool and refreshed me that get together quickly and who satisfy my whole family.
For this reason, Caprese salads have outstanding in our summer meal schedule. I am lucky that both children like tomatoes and mozzarella in almost every combination, especially when they are drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with a flood of torn basil. So I thought it would be fun to compare two versions of the classic Italian salad to see that the Caprese would claim.
I tried Ina Gartens roasted tomatoes And Ree Drummonds Classic Caprese saladAnd so it went.
Simply recipes / Stephanie entirely
Ina Gartens roasted tomatoes -Caprese salad
Ina Garten built her reputation on the beach, airy dishes such as those that she served in her grocery store, the Barefoot Contessa in Hamptons, and was a striving to see how her Capre salad would be stacked.
The recipe list does not differ much from the traditional caprese – tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olive oil and a dash balsamic vinegar. But what distinguishes Ina’s recipe is technology.
Simply recipes / Stephanie entirely
Instead of plating fat slices of top summer with fresh mozzarella, INA uses halved Roma tomatoes that were thrown into olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar and then two hours in the oven in the oven at a low temperature to strengthen the natural sweetness of the tomatoes.
Tomatoes for two hours during the blister hot July days (I am currently writing this during a national heat wave) is not my idea of a good time. The wonderful thing about tomatoes is that you don’t have to do much to you to get them. That is the whole idea of the Caprese salad.
Then I realized that this is not a Caprese salad for the summer; It is a Caprese salad for literally in every other season, with the best tomatoes only from late June to September and eight months of the year, in which the roasted tomato capresis of Ina makes sense.
Simply recipes / Stephanie entirely
Ree Drummonds Caprese salad
When Ree Drummond says that it makes a “classic” caprese, you can believe that it will be so classic that it is the Platonic ideal of a caprese salad.
Sweet, juicy tomatoes; Fresh, hopping mozzarella; entire leaves of basil; And a simple splash olive oil and balsamic reduction. It is the type of Caprese salad that your brain clicked on this article – deadless, simple, perfect.
The only real change of REE on the basic formula is to include balsamic reduction. It gives instructions for reducing simmering balsamic vinegar for about 20 minutes over medium heat, but that’s another hard passport for me.
Instead of smelling my summer kitchen for hot vinegar, I choose a balsamic glaze bought in the shop or a dash of balsamic vinegar for the bright, lively contrast that it offers. Otherwise I am completely on board with Ree’s Caprese.
Simply recipes / Stephanie entirely
The winner: Ree Drummonds Caprese salad
When it comes to the simple, satisfactory Caprese salad after the whole summer, Ree Drummonds classic Caprese salad is the clear winner. The recipe requires three large tomatoes and 12 ounces of fresh mozzarella, which is sufficient as a side dish or four portions as the center of the food.
Nevertheless, I look forward to making roasted tomatoes ina Garten’s salad when a caprese occurs in February, for example.
Nowadays I am impressed by the sweet tomatoes on site that I can find in the grocery store. You don’t have a candle for the summer harvest, but if you are roasted with a little love, you can also be quite satisfying.
