Mozzarella and Cherry Tomato Salad

Name: Mozzarella and Cherry Tomato Salad – Italian Antipasto
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Sweet red pepper 1; Mozzarella 150 g; Black olives 10-15; Fresh basil 1 sprig; Cherry tomatoes 6-8; Garlic 1 clove; Olive oil 2 tbsp; Oregano a pinch; Salt to taste

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30 mins

This salad with cheese and tomatoes is made from easy-to-find vegetables. Besides being healthy and delicious, it is very quick to make and needs no special preparation.

To be honest, the understanding of the word “appetizer” differs greatly from one people to another. It is like the famous joke about the classical composer, where some people think of organ music and others of heaven knows what.

All over the world, an appetizer is a dish served at the start of a meal, usually with an alcoholic drink (an aperitif), to “warm up” and prepare for the main course. Appetizers can be cold or hot: meat, fish, vegetable and so on. Although in Slavic cuisine the appetizers are pickled cucumbers and tomatoes and pickles in general, as well as caviar, mushrooms and all kinds of sandwiches. Still, it must be admitted that a feast often goes no further than the appetizers.

And there were times when people ate not sandwiches with vodka but Astrakhan herring, rasstegai, caviar, salted milk caps and saffron milk caps. And it would never have occurred to anyone to chase it with sausages, sprats or shashlik. Especially shashlik!

Antipasto can be cold or hot. It is usually made from meat and vegetables, although that is not required. There are kinds of antipasto made from toasted bread, thinly sliced meat (carpaccio), even little pies, and also crostini, bruschetta and so on.

Antipasto usually contains many ingredients, six or seven, sometimes more. Available seasonal foods are used: smoked meats, olives, baked vegetables, cheeses, seafood and herbs. Such an abundance of components allows for truly exceptional combinations. This Italian-style vegetable appetizer, which goes perfectly even with an everyday lunch, is quick to make but must be chilled.

Ingredients

2 servings

Sweet red pepper 1
Mozzarella 150 g
Black olives 10-15
Fresh basil 1 sprig
Cherry tomatoes 6-8
Garlic 1 clove
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Oregano a pinch
Salt to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Pepper, cheese and tomatoes

This vegetable appetizer is served cold, even very cold. It is usually put in the refrigerator for a few hours before eating so that all the components absorb the aroma. Still, I admit it is also very tasty at room temperature.

Roast the sweet red pepper. If the pepper is very large, half of it is enough. I roast peppers in the microwave: wash the peppers and be sure to pierce them through with a thin knife, otherwise they may “explode” during cooking from the excess steam inside. Cook at full power for about 10 mins, turning them over 1-2 times, until the pepper is soft and the skin is wrinkled.
Usually it is written that peppers should be roasted in the oven: just put them in the oven for 15 mins at 180 °C.

Peel and cut the pepper. Put the roasted peppers in a sealed plastic bag until they cool, otherwise it will be hard to remove the skin later. There are exceptions, though, and a thin skin sometimes comes off by itself. In any case, remove the seeds and skin from the peppers and cut them into large pieces.
Cut the mozzarella and tomatoes. Cut the mozzarella into small pieces, and if the cheese balls are small, you can halve them or use them whole. Cut the cherry tomatoes into 2 or 4 pieces, without removing the seeds.

Dressing

Make a spicy dressing. Tear young basil leaves from the stems and chop them a little. Peel the garlic clove. Put the garlic and basil in a blender, add salt and a pinch of oregano. Blend everything to a paste, add 2 tbsp of olive oil and stir.

Salad

Mix the pepper, mozzarella, tomatoes and olives in a deep bowl, pour over the spicy dressing and toss.
Chill the salad. By and large the vegetable appetizer is already done, but extra chilling and soaking in the dressing will do it good. Put the salad in the refrigerator for a few hours so that the whole appetizer soaks up the dressing.

Serving

Serve the salad cold with fresh bread.

Calories and macros

405 kcal

Serving ≈ 240 g

Protein18 g18% of kcal
Fat33 g74% of kcal
Carbs8 g8% of kcal

100 g173 kcalProtein 7.7 gFat 14.2 gCarbs 3.2 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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