Following that amazing mozzarella salad thing I had in Paris what was now nearly a month ago, I’ve been dying to have it again. But it’s so hard to find that kind of a dish in London, restaurants seldom do such simple food lest they get booted for charging too much for a couple of slices of tomato and a hunk of mozzarella. But it’s the quality of the ingredients they use in restaurants are so fantastic they do have to charge a premium rate to actually make their margins.
So, rather than wait to find it on a menu, or indeed until I go back to Paris, I made it for lunch today. I’m currently dog-sitting and sifting through old photos while my parents are at a party ‘Up North’ for the weekend. The bonus about doing this, is that Mum fills the fridge with all my favourite food and I happened to come across some vine ripe tomatoes and tub of buffalo mozzarella. I can’t really call this a recipe as it’s so simple, the importance of using the best ingredients you possibly can will make this dish what it should be. Mine was just a solo lunch but the recipe below is for two.
6 vine ripe tomatoes
1 ball of buffalo mozzarella
10 or so fresh basil leaves
1 tsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp good olive oil
1 garlic clove
- Finely chop the garlic and crush it under the knife so it releases all its juices
- Pour the white wine vinegar and olive oil into a cup. Add the garlic and a teeny tiny pinch of salt and leave it to one side
- Cut the tomatoes into wedges – I did about 8 per tomato and place in the serving dish
- Rip apart the mozzarella gently and add them to the dish so you have uneven morsels throughout the dish
- Dressing time – and it’s a bit ponsy – but dip the tip of a fork into the dressing and let the drips drop onto the salad, do this until there are a few drops everywhere.
- Basil leaves onto the salad and a sprinkle of black pepper
- Serve and enjoy
