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Caprese Salad with Stovetop Croutons

Annalise, Completely Delicious

A classic Caprese Salad is a must when the weather warms up and tomatoes are in season. Try your hand at making stovetop croutons to finish off the salad, giving you all the flavors of summer without turning on the oven.
5 min Prep Time
15 min Cook Time
  • Prep Time: 5 min
  • Cook Time: 15 min
  • Servings: 4 servings

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • For the Stovetop Croutons:

  • 1 medium rustic loaf of bread
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • For the Caprese Salad:

  • 1 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
  • 8 ounces mozzarella, sliced or use cherry size
  • 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, to taste
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

For the Stovetop Croutons:

Step 1

Use sharp, serrated knife to remove crust from bread and cut into 1 inch cubes.

Step 2

Place butter in large wide pan and set over medium heat. When butter is fully melted, add garlic cloves and let cook for a few minutes to infuse flavor into butter. Add cubed bread and salt. Stir bread around until it’s well coated with butter and toast until golden brown on all sides. Watch closely so the croutons don’t burn.

Step 3

Remove croutons from heat and cool completely, discard the garlic.

For the Caprese Salad:

Step 4

Pour balsamic vinegar into small saucepan and set over medium high heat. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, until reduced and coats the back of a spoon. This should take about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Step 5

Toss the sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and croutons in large bowl. Drizzle with reduced balsamic vinegar and olive oil to taste and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Step 6

Store any leftover balsamic vinegar in the fridge.*
*To save a step, you can purchase a bottle of balsamic reduction from the grocery store in place of making your own.