Merken There's something about mid-July when the farmers market explodes with color that makes me abandon all my cooking plans and just buy tomatoes—handfuls of them in reds and oranges and deep purples that taste nothing like winter grocery store versions. One afternoon, standing in my kitchen with a pile of these beautiful heirlooms, I realized the best way forward was doing almost nothing with them. A friend had just given me fresh basil from her garden, and suddenly this salad came together like it had been waiting to happen all summer.
I made this for a dinner party where someone had just returned from Italy and was talking nonstop about tomatoes. Halfway through the meal, they went quiet and just looked at their plate. That moment—when good ingredients and simplicity do all the work—is exactly when cooking feels like the right choice.
Ingredients
- Heirloom Tomatoes: Four large ones in mixed colors, sliced thick enough to taste like tomato but thin enough to feel delicate. The color variation isn't just pretty; different varieties have different flavor notes.
- Fresh Mozzarella: Two hundred grams torn or sliced into soft pieces. Room temperature mozzarella will be creamy and yielding instead of squeaky and cold.
- Fresh Basil: One full cup of leaves, and yes, you need this much because the oil is where the real flavor lives.
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Sixty milliliters of something you'd actually want to drink. This isn't the time to use the basic stuff.
- Vinegar: One tablespoon of white balsamic or red wine vinegar, added at the very last moment so it doesn't turn everything soggy.
- Sea Salt and Pepper: To taste, and don't be shy—good salt wakes everything up.
Instructions
- Blend the basil into liquid gold:
- Pile your basil leaves into a blender with the olive oil and blend until it's smooth and shockingly green. If you want a crystal-clear oil, strain it through a fine mesh sieve, but honestly, the little flecks of basil are where I find the charm.
- Build your canvas:
- Arrange tomato slices on a large platter in whatever pattern makes you happy. Tuck pieces of mozzarella between them and scatter the red onion if you're using it. There's no wrong way to do this.
- Anoint with basil oil:
- Drizzle that green oil all over everything. Be generous. This is where the flavor lives.
- Season and finish:
- Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh pepper, then at the very last second before serving, add the vinegar. The timing here matters because vinegar waits for no one.
Merken I remember my grandmother watching me make this once and saying she'd been doing something similar her whole life but without the fancy basil oil, just torn basil and good olive oil stirred together. She was right that simplicity was the point, but that blended basil oil adds something almost luxurious, and I think she would have liked it.
The Magic of Heirloom Tomatoes
Once you taste a real heirloom tomato—one that actually tastes like concentrated tomato instead of crisp water—it's hard to go back. They're oddly shaped, sometimes they fall apart in your hands, and you pay a little more at the market, but they're the entire point of this dish. A beautiful salad with mediocre tomatoes is just sad.
Basil Oil: A Kitchen Game-Changer
The basil oil is what elevates this from a nice plate of tomatoes and cheese to something that feels intentional and special. It's vibrant enough that you'll want to make it again for other dishes—drizzle it on grilled vegetables, stir it into soups, use it as a finishing touch on almost anything. Once you start making it, you'll find yourself blending basil constantly.
Variations and Serving Ideas
Summer is long enough to make this salad a dozen different ways. Some nights I add thin slices of ripe peaches or nectarines for sweetness. Other times, if I'm feeling indulgent, I swap the mozzarella for burrata, which is like mozzarella's creamier, more extravagant cousin. You can serve it on its own for a light lunch or alongside grilled sourdough if you want something more substantial. Pair it with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc or a light rosé that echoes the garden freshness.
- Burrata adds richness if you want to make it feel more luxurious.
- Grilled sourdough turns this into a proper lunch or light dinner.
- A cold white wine makes the whole meal taste like summer itself.
Merken This salad reminds me why summer is worth waiting for all year. It's proof that sometimes the best meals come from restraint, good ingredients, and the willingness to do almost nothing.
Fragen rund um das Rezept
- → Wie wird das Basilikumöl zubereitet?
Frische Basilikumblätter werden zusammen mit hochwertigem Olivenöl in einem Mixer oder einer Küchenmaschine fein püriert und anschließend bei Bedarf durch ein feines Sieb gestrichen, um ein klares Öl zu erhalten.
- → Kann man den Mozzarella austauschen?
Ja, Burrata ist eine leckere Alternative, die dem Salat zusätzliche Cremigkeit verleiht.
- → Welche Tomatensorten eignen sich am besten?
Große, bunte Strauchtomaten oder sogenannte Erbstück-Tomaten bieten sowohl Optik als auch Geschmacksspektrum für diesen Salat.
- → Wie bewahrt man den Salat am besten frisch auf?
Am besten wird der Salat direkt vor dem Servieren angerichtet. Falls nötig, separat Zutaten lagern und kurz vor Genuss zusammenfügen.
- → Welche Getränke passen gut dazu?
Ein trockener Weißwein wie Sauvignon Blanc oder ein leichter Rosé ergänzt die Aromen hervorragend.