Caprese skewers with balsamic
Sweet tomatoes, soft mozzarella and basil on a toothpick, the prettiest thing on the table, with no cooking at all.
- 25 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 12
- About $0.99 a serving
- 70 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: It’s ready in 25 minutes, start to finish.
Ingredients
For 12 servings.
- 24 cherry tomatoes
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella, pearls, or a ball
- 1 package fresh basil, leaves picked
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 70 calories, 4 g protein, 2 g carbs and 6 g fat, and costs about $0.99 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the mozzarella pearls and them dry with paper towels, or cut a ball into ¾-inch .
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
the tomatoes and basil and them dry.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Thread a tomato, a folded basil leaf and a piece of mozzarella onto each toothpick or short skewer, and stand them up on a platter.
Dolly’s tip: Fold big basil leaves in half so the pick goes through twice and holds them in place.Cover and chill them for up to 4 hours if you’re making them ahead.
Just before serving, with the oil and balsamic and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Dolly’s tip: Mozzarella can sit out up to 2 hours. Dressing them last keeps the basil bright.Food safety: Food with mayonnaise, dairy, eggs, cooked meat or cream, like dips, salads and cream desserts, can sit out for 2 hours at most, or 1 hour above 90°F. Keep cold food in the fridge or on ice until serving, and hot food at 140°F or hotter.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
When you host a dinner, Dollop builds the menu around your guests’ allergies, works out a cooking timeline back from when everyone sits down, and puts it all on one grocery list.
