Caprese Salad

I love this salad. It always reminds me of being in Rome, sitting on the rooftop terrace of the Forum Hotel, or at an outdoor cafe.

There are other foods that remind me of Rome as well. Canteloupe wrapped in prosciutto, and Penne Alla Carbone come to mind immediately. We found a fabulous local trattoria in Rome in the Aventine district that was probably one of the best meals we ever had. It didn't even look like a restaurant. We were quite far off the beaten track and when we got to the address I thought...uh oh...it's closed.

Behind two layers of frosted glass and an imposing entranceway a jewel was hidden. Our waiter spoke little english, and we little Italian. We managed to choose our first course easily but when it came to the meat course and pasta course we were pretty clueless. We told him to pick for us. I did also get across that tripe would not be ideal...LOL. We dined on the most marvelous roast of lamb I've ever had, and discovered penne alla carbone.

I've never been able to duplicate the lamb, but I'm getting close with the penne. Once I perfect it I'll share. In the meantime we had a light dinner tonight and had Caprese salad.

Very easy to make, and just scrumptiously good.

Ingredients.

1 or 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced

1 package fresh mozzarella ball (s)

handful of fresh basil chopped

salt to taste

olive oil

All you do is slice your tomatoes and place on a plate. Spread the chopped fresh basil over the tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, and a dash of salt. Cut the fresh mozzarella and place over the tomatoes. Poof...you're done.

This is the sure fire way to get my kids to eat fresh tomatoes. Given the season the tomatoes and basil are both from our struggling garden this year.