Even though we love to cook, we also love to eat out, particularly at restaurants that source locally and ethically. One of our newly discovered favorite restaurants is Tidbit Bistro. They have excellent food, great service, and they buy many of their ingredients locally. Their produce comes from Full Circle Farms and they take care in sourcing their meat from farms who treat their animals right.
They have also have an excellent wine and cocktail list, including an impressive list of grappas, many of them local.
Melty cheese and ripe tomatoes!
Just a few days ago, we brought my parents to dine at Tidbit and ordered one of their appetizers that we’d never tried before. It was a caprese salad with melted mozzarella . It was so good that we ordered a second almost as soon as we’d finished the first! Since we had some fresh mozzarella from Sea Breeze Farm at home and I’d picked up some excellent tomatoes from Billy’s at the University District Farmers’ Market, I decided to make my own version at home.
A quick note: Even though our version is excellent, don’t let that stop you from dining at Tidbit Bistro. Our recipe is a rough recreation of theirs and I certainly wouldn’t even begin to compare the two. Not to mention the fact that Nic and John are amazing hosts and every detail has always been perfect. We cannot recommend Tidbit Bistro enough.
Baked Caprese with Fresh Mozzarella
- 1/2 ball of mozzarella
- Olive oil
- 6-8 fresh basil leaves
- 2 small or 1 large cherry tomato
- Salt (optional)
1. Thinly slice the mozzarella and the tomatoes.
2. On an oven safe plate, drizzle some olive oil.
3. Arrange the slices of mozzarella in a circle on the plate. There should be very little plate visible between mozzarella slices.
4. Lay the tomato slices on top of the mozzarella.
5. Top with whole or minced basil leaves.
6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 7-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
7. Serve with bread or crackers.
Chef’s notes: We were all truly impressed with this dish when we ordered it at Tidbit Bistro. Our version wasn’t the same, but it was incredibly good and easy. Assembly takes less than 10 minutes. This is an excellent appetizer to serve for small parties, but make sure you have plenty of mozzarella in the house because your guests will gobble this up and ask for more. We used a basil infused olive oil that we bought on our last trip to California, but any olive oil will work. If your mozzarella isn’t very salty, you can sprinkle the top with some salt before baking.
My greek friend makes something similar: substitute mozzarella for feta, add red pepper, change basil for oregano. It’s also really good.
This baked Caprese is great also if you use fresh mozzarella two or three days old when it is a little drier. Maybe you have leftovers in the fridge? Use them, so you don’t have to throw them away! Instead of salt, you may think of adding shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. The combination of mozzarella and Parmigiano taste really good together. Also, if you like prosciutto, you can add at the last minute, once the dish is out of the oven.