American Flag Caprese Salad
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 12 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 12 servings
- Calories
- 896
- Total Fat
- 67
- Saturated Fat
- 39
- Carbohydrates
- 14
- Dietary Fiber
- 1
- Sugar
- 2
- Protein
- 60
- Cholesterol
- 214
- Sodium
- 1341
- Total: 1 hr 50 min (includes cooling time)
- Active: 40 min
Ingredients
18 small purple potatoes (about 1 pound)
Kosher salt
1 pound herbed cheese spread, at room temperature
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
26 cherry tomatoes, halved (about 2 pounds)
24 1-inch mozzarella balls in brine, drained well and halved
Directions
Special equipment:
12- by -17 1/2-inch wooden cutting board, pastry bag fitted with a small star tip- Cook the potatoes in generously salted boiling water until fork-tender but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Drain well and allow to cool completely. Cut in half crosswise.
- Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a small star tip, with the herbed cheese spread. Cut a piece of parchment large enough to fit a 12- by -17 1/2-inch wooden cutting board. Put a dab of cheese spread on the underside of each corner of the parchment to help it adhere to the cutting board.
- Pipe and spread a thin layer of cheese spread in to a 6 1/2- by -9 1/2-inch rectangle in the upper left corner of the parchment. Arrange the potatoes in rows, cut-side-up, on top of the cheese. Pipe the remaining cheese in between the potatoes to make stars for the flag.
- Drizzle the remaining empty portion of parchment with half of the oil then sprinkle all over with the basil. Starting from the top, make a line of tomato halves, cut-side-up, followed by a line of mozzarella halves, cut-side-down. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes and mozzarella. Drizzle everything with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Cook’s Note
Since this is a composed salad, you might have some ingredients left over, so toss them together and eat a bonus salad.