Happy Summer, friends! Don’t you just love love summer produce? Here in the UK, we miss out on the incredible bounty from Canada (oh Ontario peaches, how I long for you!) but are fortunate enough to have access to Spanish tomatoes. And the Spanish grow some incredible ones. They are such masters of growing tomatoes that they even have a food fight with them every August.
Though I hope you use yours to make this salad instead.
As a self-professed “Culinary Jerk”, I decided to make a riff on Caprese salad using my most favourite Italian cheese; Taleggio.
Caprese salad is traditionally made with Buffala (buffalo) Mozarella, but I prefer the inclusion of salad leaves and a stronger cheese. To that end; Taleggio is from the Alpine region of Italy, and can be compared as a more robust but not too strong version of brie. I would recommend sourcing it specifically for this recipe. It really is worth the time and effort to find. It’s that good.
With the help of my Zwilling knife, which cuts cleanly and effortlessly, this took only a few minutes to make and has been something my boyfriend and I have been eating all summer. Thankfully with August just around the corner, you have a whole month to enjoy it too!
Happy Summer, friends! Here’s to sunshine and tomatoes.
- One Head Boston Lettuce
- One Punnet Cherry Tomatoes
- 150g Taleggio
- Hanful Chopped Basil Leaves
- 1-2 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 1-2 tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
- Salt and Pepper
- Wash and chop lettuce. Dry in salad spinner and place in salad bowl.
- Cut cherry tomatoes in half and sprinkle on top of lettuce leaves.
- Cut slices of cheese and place alongside cherry tomatoes.
- Sprinkle slivered basil leaves.
- Drizzle with oil and vinegar.
- Finish with Salt and Pepper.
- Tip: I never toss this salad or I find the tomatoes and cheese just sink to the bottom (plus it looks so much better un-tossed) I use salad tongs to serve from the bowl, but would not recommend them for tossing before consuming.
All the best,
Photos: Brittany Levett