I have really been struggling with coming up with any ideas. This always happens to me when we begin to transition from light summery meals to warm, heartier ones. I don’t want to slip awa from my light fresh salads and grilled chicken, and to dive into roasted root vegetables or heavy stews just yet. So at this point I spend more time wandering around the grocery store or Haymarket, where I get the majority of my fresh vegetables. However, during one visit to Haymarket I spotted pearl tomatoes and knew exactly what I wanted to make… Caprese bites!
Grabbing some mozzarella balls and fresh basil this came together easily and quickly. I decided that the simplest approach would be to make the tomato the vessel for the mozzarella and the basil. Basil is really flavorful so I would not need much so just a little piece could be layered with the cheese and tomato, possibly even hidden entirely so it would surprise the person enjoying the caprese bite.
I decided to create 2 different sizes of caprese bites allowing serving to be flexible. Halving the tomatoes makes more smaller bites which could be appealing when needing to serve a large crowd. These are perfectly bite size.
I also decided to make larger bites by only slicing part of the tomato and scooping out the inside guts creating a larger cup. This would allow the entire mozzarella ball to snuggly fit inside the tomato with the basil leaf. This makes for a larger bite for someone but I think that serving these could be a bit easier as someone would just need to snag one with a toothpick.
Caprese Bites
*Makes 20 or 40 caprese bites, depending on preparation*
Ingredients
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20 Cherry Tomatoes
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10 or 20 Mozzarella balls
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10 to 20 Fresh basil leaves
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Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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Salt and Pepper
Process to prepare 20 bites
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Wash tomatoes and basil leaves
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Cut a small portion of each cherry tomatoes at one end. Scoop out the wet flesh and seeds.
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Rip the basil leaves in 2 or 3 pieces, depending on size.
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Lay a piece of basil leaf into the tomato cup, and then carefully add the mozzarella ball.
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Repeat the stuffing process for the rest of the 19 tomato pieces.
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Slice a sliver of the tomato to make a flat bottom to prevent it from rolling around.
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Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper prior to serving.
Process to prepare 40 bites
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Wash tomatoes and basil leaves
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Halve cherry tomatoes and clean out the wet flesh and seeds
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Halve the 20 mozzarella balls
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Rip the basil leaves in 2 or 3 pieces, depending on size.
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Lay a piece of basil leaf into the halved tomato, and then add the halved mozzarella ball, curved side down.
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Repeat the stuffing process for the rest of the 39 tomato pieces.
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Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper prior to serving.
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