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Caprese Sliders
For 20 Servings:
1 block of mozzarella cheese
1 box of fresh basil
2 tomatoes
1-1.5 rolls french baguettes (or any firm bread will work really)
balsamic vinegar (Although glaze also works well)
Directions:
Cut bread into inch-long partitions. Apply a conservative amount of balsamic vinegar to the bread pieces, or, you can have guests apply vinegar themselves. Then cut appropriately sized pieces of tomato to lay flat over the bread. Then cut mozzarella to an appropriate size according to size of bread. Top with basil.
Although my family tree lacks the certain depth of the usual family, one constant around summertime at our gatherings was always the caprese/bruschetta hybrid that has become a staple in Marra hors’ d’oeuvres. The dish has Italian roots, as do I, as my father was dropped off in the Bronx as a baby from a Sicilian family we know nothing about aside from his father was a doctor. He was then adopted by my family, the Marras, and the Italian pride flowed through them like you read about. Aside from meatballs and lasagna, one of the more compelling parts of the Italian appetite is the lighter-fare type snack of Caprese that I see every year. There is something special about the ingredients of a caprese. The freshness of the ingredients speak for themselves. In a world dominated by chemically-engineered flavor boosters, something is nice about a food that tastes fresh. Not only fresh, but good.
Too often we sacrifice the taste of a burger for the taste of a sauce, and too often do Americans throw in fresh vegetables as a sort of complimentary ideal for a lack of freshness that isn’t really there. My dad will flip out if a pizza is made with cheddar cheese, and therefore it is in my blood to appreciate mozzarella cheese in all of its glory. Mozzarella is from Southern Italy, around where I originate and it most likely holds the top spot for “best all around cheese” in my heart, because Swiss isn’t really that great when enjoyed by itself. The tomato wasn’t brought to Italy until around the Spanish conquistador’s time, which is almost shocking, considering that it’s tough to name an Italian dish without a tomato incorporated in it. Vito Corleone died in a tomato garden, and in Goodfellas you learn that “real Italians” cut the garlic so thin for the sauce they use a razor blade. I guess if you had to name an Italian staple for their cuisine, it would have to start and end with the tomato. This is what makes the caprese sliders, (for lack of a better name) so integral and kind of a flagship for Italian appetizers in our eyes. I also think it’s definitely worth noting that the dish itself looks like the Italian flag. I mean, quite literally, with tomato on the bottom, then the mozzarella cheese, and finally the fresh basil on top.
I think Michael Pollan would agree this dish tastes genuine, and whilst Kingsolver may have a problem with something about it, they would both most likely eat this. It may be a little early