Ultimate Caprese Salad.

I had to share this one last detail from my sister’s bridal shower last weekend because it was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever made! We had a local Italian restaurant cater the party since my sister is a big fan of pasta (go follow her @agirlandherpasta instagram account!). We decided to tackle a few salads to go along with the pasta and chicken dishes we ordered — one bridesmaid brought a beautiful caesar salad, and I was in charge of caprese salad. My motto for this event was go big, or go home and I brought that mantra to every detail (she’s my little sis and BFF after all!), including the caprese salad.

I had three different elements to this “ultimate caprese” dish. To start, I created a big ring of sliced heirloom tomatoes around the edge of a large oval serving dish, and tucked in thick slices of fresh mozzarella in between each one. I proudly brought a bunch of basil from our new vegetable and herb garden at home and spread them between the layers too. On one half of the remaining opening on the plate I nestled two balls of burrata and split them open slightly before drizzling them with olive oil. Next to the burrata I placed a big scoop of rich, garlicky pesto, and filled in the rest of the plate with a roughly chopped salad of marinated cherry tomatoes and mini mozzarella balls. Everything got a hearty seasoning with salt and pepper and I chilled it until ready to serve. There wasn’t a drop of the salad left at the end of the party, so you know it was a winner! Going to be making this one on repeat all summer long, in fact I just might have it for dinner tonight!