Salads and fresh plates
Insalata caprese
Slices of fresh mozzarella and ripe tomato with basil, salt and olive oil, from the island of Capri.
Insalata caprese, the salad of Capri, is fresh mozzarella and ripe tomato in alternating slices, with basil leaves, salt and good olive oil. Like the margherita it shows the colours of the Italian flag. It is a summer starter or light lunch across Campania and now all of Italy.
What goes in
- Buffalo mozzarella538%, Or fior di latte, very fresh.
- Ripe tomatoes538%, Summer fruit, sliced.
- Basil18%, Whole leaves.
- Olive oil18%, Extra virgin.
- Salt18%, Flaky.
Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each ingredient's share of the dish.
Made step by step
Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional way, in outline.
Step 1: Rest Take the mozzarella out of its whey and let it reach room temperature. Step 2: Layer Slice the tomatoes and the cheese to the same thickness. Step 3: Layer Arrange them alternately on a plate, tucking in basil leaves. Step 4: Serve Season with salt and dress with olive oil just before serving. Finished Insalata caprese, by share.
On the island
The salad is said to have been served on Capri in the early twentieth century, and it became widely known after the Second World War, when tourism to the island grew. It needs ripe summer tomatoes and very fresh cheese, ideally made that morning. In Campania that usually means buffalo mozzarella from the plains of Caserta and Salerno, or fior di latte from the hills.
Restraint
The traditional dressing is salt and olive oil only. Balsamic vinegar and dried oregano are common outside Campania but are not part of the original salad. The cheese should be at room temperature, never cold from the fridge, so its milky flavour comes through. Burrata, a softer cousin with a creamy centre, is sometimes used in place of mozzarella today.
Where it is used
The cheeses in it
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and kitchen makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Buffalo mozzarella: Luigi Versaggi, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Mozzarella: Popo le Chien, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Burrata: Popo le Chien, CC0, source