Chef Devan Rajkumar’s Caprese Salad with Cashew Pesto
Caprese salad is a simple Italian side dish that has garnered popularity of mainstream chefs over the years. In addition to being a heart-healthy dish, a good Caprese Salad is sure to make your mouth water. Celebrity Chef Devan Rajkumar’s take on a classic Caprese Salad is no exception. Try his recipe for dinner to add a burst of flavor to your spread. Your family will love it so much, there won’t be any leftovers!
What you’ll need: 1 ball buffalo mozzarella, 2 tomatoes, 1/4 cup oven roasted OR sun dried tomatoes, 1 tbsp olive oil, cashew pesto
(What you’ll need for the cashew pesto: 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 1/2 cup basil leaves, 1/4 cup cashews, 1/3 tsp salt, 1/3 tsp black pepper)
Step 1: Slice and Dice
Using a sharp knife, cut your tomatoes into slices. TIP If your knife is not sharp enough to tear through the tomato skin without making a mess, simply switch to a serrated blade. Next up: your buffalo mozzarella. Chef Devan recommends slicing your mozzarella into irregular pieces, so that you have more to work with when you’re platting the dish later on.
Step 2: Prepare the Pesto
In a bowl or container, combine olive oil with packed basil, a good amount of parmesan, chopped cashews, salt, and black pepper. Then blend the contents of the bowl or container together using a food processor. Once it’s blended, you can add some more garlic oil to the mix.
Step 3: Season
On a plate or tray, lay out all of your pre-cut tomato and mozzarella slices. Season them with black pepper and salt (on the mozzarella only).
Step 4: Plate
To plate, lay down a teaspoon of pesto first, and spread it across the platter. Then, distribute slices of tomato and buffalo mozzarella over top of the pesto, in an irregular order. If you have sun dried or oven roasted tomatoes on hand, you can include those on your plate as well. Finally, top your plate off with some more pesto and complete the dish with some grated parmesan cheese and micro greens.
