But wait, caprese requires cheese.
Well yes, typically caprese includes slices of mild (and utterly delicious) fresh mozzarella along with juicy, sweet tomato and fragrant basil.
Along with high-quality olive oil and a necessary sprinkling of salt.
I do love cheese, don’t get me wrong.
Although cheese is not always necessary.
Especially when you have creamy, perfectly ripe avocado on hand.
(See this here vegan veggie pesto pasta with pistachios.)
Clearly avocado and cheese are not the same thing–I’m not that crazy–but they both are nice and fatty, and oftentimes creamy… depending on your cheese, of course.
Similar enough for me!
Plus I use any and every excuse to consume more avocado.
(Let’s just ignore the fact that they are pricey little suckers.)
Uber flavorful tomatoes are finally showing up, so you have to use those guys as much as possible during the gorgeous summer months as well.
Let’s not forget our basil!
Also especially bright-eyed and bushy-tailed right around now.
High-quality olive oil is a must.
Otherwise you will ruin (yes, ruin) your beautiful produce with flavorless oil.
No bueno.
I know it’s probably against the law in Italy or something, but I do love a very shy dash of balsamic vinegar thrown into the mix as well.
Throw (preferably Nutella) gelato in my face if you’re really that upset.
I dare you… hehe
Anyway.
Just leave the vinegar out if you really feel that strongly about the matter.
Be reasonably generous with your salt now, it really awakens the avocado and tomato.
And crack on a few grinds of black pepper like a rebel.
Because that’s what I do.
(Again, purists, feel free to pass on the who pepper business if you feel so inclined.)
Make sure your plate looks nice and pretty then pounce on that thing like you haven’t eaten in four hours.
P.S. Do not refrigerate this. Dooooo not! Refrigerated tomatoes are mushy, mealy and just plain depressing.