Caprese Salad with Basil Oil

Method

Basil Oil

• 1)

  Pick small leaves off basil and set aside for garnish.

• 2)

  Pick the rest of the leaves off the bunch and blanch them in boiling water for approx. 30 secs.

• 3)

  Dry the blanched leaves with paper towel.

• 4)

  Blitz with 50mL of olive oil.

• 5)

  Once blitzed, add a further 200mL of olive oil and mix.

• 6)

  Leave to sit for a few hours for basil to infuse, then strain through cheese cloth, muslin or chux to catch basil oil. Then discard the actual basil in the cloth.

Caprese Salad

• 1)

  Slice tomatoes (approx 1/2cm) thick and lay them in a shallow bowl and drizzle in basil oil.

• 2)

  Let them marinade while you prep the rest of the salad.

• 3)

  Slice mozzarella a similar thickness to tomatoes.

• 4)

  Arrange them on a plate- layering up the tomatoes and cheese.

• 5)

  Top with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, a crack of pepper, a little bit of the extra oil that the tomatoes were in and the small sweet basil leaves you reserved at the start.