177. Inspired by Caprese - Tomato and asparagus stacks with fresh mozzarella and basil

Next time you feel like bringing a bit of glamour to your table, try this gorgeous stack. Big wow factor with minimal skill or effort. When we think glamour, a stack of vegetables is not in the forefront of our minds, however, this stack of tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, mozzarella and steamed asparagus is a glamorous ‘knock your socks off’ stunner, and I am here for it. It is without question a riff on the Caprese salad but, with some asparagus - it is spring after all.

This is a perfect salad for your next dinner party. The size of the stack is up to you. Use big tomatoes = big stack, medium tomatoes = medium stack, if you want my opinion, I like the look of the bigger stack especially as we are using asparagus in one of the layers.

I served this salad with a steak marinated in the honey balsamic marinade, a simple pasta primavera (I used only shredded carrot and zucchini this time), and baguette slices (for mopping up the leftover EVOO and balsamic vinegar). Delicious, delightful and decadent!

Spring asparagus is my family’s favourite. The slimmer the stem the better!

There is not one element of this salad that is tricky. Just a bunch of vegetables all stacked on top of one another, and that is it! Every element is in its natural form, just some basic slicing and constructing the stack. I use a very good quality extra virgin olive oil, coarse sea salt, and a balsamic vinegar (including a glaze, recipe below - a balsamic glaze is made by boiling balsamic vinegar until it thickens).

The tomato slice layers were given a nice drizzle of the rich tangy balsamic glaze followed by a pinch of fresh sea salt and a layer of basil using the leaves. Flavours are layered, and layered. The stack feels quite decadent and tastes indulgent, everything comes together in a delightful balance.

I think this stack will be a regular on my table for the foreseeable future.

Balsamic glaze

This recipe is the easiest of them all. One cup of balsamic vinegar boiled for 8-10 minutes! That’s it, you just made a superb balsamic glaze. I use this balsamic glaze to drizzle over fresh salads and proteins with a further drizzle of olive oil.

1 cup balsamic vinegar

Boil for 8-10 minutes, allow to cool and drizzle on your favourite salad, tomato stack, bruschetta or protein.

The stack

Ingredients, and step by step assembly.

All you need: Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, EVOO, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, asparagus, sea salt, black pepper.

Order of operations

1. Blanch the asparagus in boiling water. Remove from the boiling water after about 2 minutes, and place into ice water to prevent further cooking.

2. Slice the tomatoes. I try to slice the tomatoes the same width as the asparagus. Then slice the fresh mozzarella the same width as the tomato (and same thickness of the asparagus).

3. To create a properly sized layer of asparagus, place the asparagus on the tomato to determine the number of stems you will be using. Then flip, place the asparagus on your cutting board with a tomato on top and cut the asparagus down to size.

4. Start assembling, tomato (add a drizzle EVOO, pinch of sea salt and black pepper, drizzle balsamic reduction), mozzarella, basil leaves. Repeat.

5. Last layer is the tomato slice with asparagus, top with another tomato slice. Drizzle with more EVOO, balsamic vinegar and/or glaze and a pinch of salt. Garnish with more fresh basil leaves as you please.

Serve and enjoy!