Start of the caprese season

I think that this is pretty much the start of the proper caprese season, for me at least it is. There have been times, when I could have lived through the whole summer on insalata caprese, also known as tomato, mozzarella and basil salad. I don't make it quite that often anymore these days, but can't think of many other perfect dishes for a hot summer's day. I'm still keeping calm here, as it isn't that hot yet, but seems to be getting more summerly.

Lovely local tasty tomatoes are appearing in the shops and basil grows nicely by my window. I hope to get my own tomato crops later this summer, too. On this occasion I used Pome Dei Moro tomatoes from Sussex. Of course good quality mozzarella is available in many shops, so there's nothing that can stop me from making this dish. I only use my best olive oil and balsamic vinegar or balsamic pearls for this salad and season it with little salt and ground black pepper.

The salad is wonderfully light on its own, but also great with crusty breads, pasta dishes, risottos, barbequed vegetables and so forth.

How do you like your caprese, traditional or more inventive?

Your VegHog