Giada’s Frozen Take on the Classic Caprese Salad Really Works
Plus, find out how this popular summer salad was born.
When you go to a gathering this summer, if you’re lucky, someone will bring a Caprese salad. A Caprese salad is typically made with a variety of sliced tomatoes nestled with rounds of creamy mozzarella and topped with a drizzle of good olive oil and ribbons of basil. The simple salad lets the flavor of summer tomatoes shine.
The world-famous salad was actually invented in Capri, says Giada on this weekend’s episode of Giada in Italy. "There are many stories about how the Caprese salad came to be," says Giada. "At this particular hotel called the Quisisana, some tourists asked for a plate of tomatoes, because the tomatoes here are phenomenal, and a side of mozzarella. The hotel decided to put them on a plate together with some basil, and there started the Caprese salad that became legendary all over the world."
On this episode, though, Giada wanted to try something unexpected with the classic Caprese flavors. "Granita is very popular in Capri," says Giada. "Why not turn the Caprese salad into a granita?"
She starts by taking fresh tomatoes and pureeing them in a blender with white balsamic vinegar, a bit of sugar and a pinch of salt. The mixture is poured into a pan and then scraped with a fork every two hours to form little crunchy ice crystals of tomato. She combines the tomato crystals with baby mozzarella, a few basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. "It really gives the tomatoes this, like, burst of sweetness and cold that works really well with the mozzarella," she says.
Love Caprese salads? Try these other renditions from Giada too:
See what else Giada is cooking up in Capri on Giada in Italy Sundays at 11:30a|10:30c.
