Caprese Pockets

    I love all things caprese! There's just something about putting fresh basil over tomatoes and fresh whole milk mozzarella. I was fooling around with the idea of making a caprese pizza and I ended up making these little pockets of goodness. They are so simple and delicious!

Caprese Pockets

Ingredients:

- 1 roll of refrigerated pizza dough. 

- 6 pieces of whole milk mozzarella (about 1/2 ounce each) 

- 6 slices of tomato

- 6 large basil leaves, sliced

- salt and pepper

     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll the pizza dough and cut in half place the tomatoes on one half, even spaced. Salt and pepper the tomatoes. Place the mozzarella and basil leaves on top of the tomatoes. Cover with the other half of the dough. Cut around each tomato and form into dough pockets. Place onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Fresh Tomatoes Caprese

    So, last week I started another new job! I'm officially a server at Carrabba's Italian Grill! I spent this whole week studying menus, eating food, and tasting wine. I have to say, I was very impressed and I'm looking forward to working there. I've never really been a fan of anything "Caprese". That is, until I tried the Tomatoes Caprese at Carrabba's. I decided that I had to try and make my own version of it! Caprese salad is a simple Italian Salad that is traditionally made of sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves. It's said that the colors of this antipasti are meant to represent the red, white, and green of the Italian Flag. I whipped up a quick balsamic reduction and drizzled it on top with a little salt and pepper. Fantastico!!!

Fresh Tomatoes Caprese

Ingredients:

- 1 large ripe tomato

- 1 small red onion

- 1 package of fresh mozzarella cheese

- salt and fresh ground pepper

- 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar 

- 3 or 4 fresh leaves of basil, chopped 

    In a small sauce pan, warm the balsamic vinegar over medium/ high heat for about 10 minutes. You will have to watch it carefully, stirring constantly. When the vinegar starts to thicken, remove from the heat and let cool. Slice the tomato and onion into bite sized pieces, drizzle with the cooled balsamic reduction and top with sliced mozzarella, basil, salt, and pepper. 

I toasted some Italian bread and diced everything up to try a bruschetta spin on my caprese!