Caprese Salad, a staple of Italian summertime dining, has become extremely popular in the US over the past 10 years or so. And I am sure you are thinking, “She is seriously going to give us a recipe for the world’s easiest salad?” Certainly, there is no recipe needed for this delicious, four-ingredient dish. All you need is the highest quality tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and olive oil. Arrange however you would like on a plate and season with salt and pepper. While usually Caprese is only used to refer to the aforementioned salad, we learned at a recent cooking class in Positano, that there are actually 3 different local dishes referred to as “Caprese”: Insalata Caprese, Ravioli Caprese and Torta Caprese. In fact, you could make one pretty amazing meal of all the caprese dishes. They all actually originate from the island of Capri (hence caprese). In October we were lucky enough to join the adorable chef at Covo dei Saraceni in Positano for a cooking class and the highlights where those other two capresi.
Ravioli Caprese – as light as air with a simple, fresh tomato sauce, these were decadent and delicious.
Torta Caprese – Caprese doesn’t always include tomato. In this case, it is nothing but almond and chocolate decadence. I’m not complaining! Which Caprese is your favorite?