Salad Caprese Sizzling
A classic insalata caprese takes on a new texture and sweetness when the tomatoes are roasted on a slate stone. A slate stone can be bought at a stone yard (it needs to be washed and seasoned). Also, Sur la Table sells a piastra (the Italian term for cooking on slate, in French it is called pierrade). Details for washing and seasoning the stone can be found in the recipe for Tuna Steaks au Pierrade. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Ingredients
- 3 pieceroma tomatoes, stem sliced off and cut ½
- 1 pieceball of fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced and cut into 1" squares
- 8 piecelarge basil leaves, chiffonnade
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 1 pinchcoarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- 1
In serving bowl, toss tomato halves in the olive oil, salt and pepper
- 2
Heat slate stone or piastra on grill, brush stone with olive oil
- 3
Place tomatoes cut side down and allow to cook until the surface turns a shade of pale orange and is soft but not collapsing
- 4
Use a spatula to gently turn tomato halves
- 5
Cook on skin side until soft and marked on the skin
- 6
To chiffonnade basil: wash and dry leaves,
- 7
Stack leaves, then roll them up together and thinly slice into ribbons.
- 8
Put tomatoes back into serving bowl with oil, add mozzarella and basil
- 9
Toss and serve