Stone Fruit Caprese
Published July 14, 2022
Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Eugene Jho. Prop Stylist: Christina Lane.
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 pounds ripe but firm stone fruit (such as nectarines, peaches, plums, cherries or a mix)
1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus more as needed
2 teaspoons granulated sugar, plus more as needed
Flaky sea salt
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, at room temperature
About 20 basil or mint leaves, or a combination, torn if large
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
Freshly ground black pepper
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)
15 grams carbs; 30 milligrams cholesterol; 207 calories; 6 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 13 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 476 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein; 1 gram sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Pit the stone fruit and cut into irregular pieces. Transfer to a serving platter, then sprinkle with the lemon juice, sugar and ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt. Toss with your hands, then let sit until juices pool on the platter, 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust sugar, salt and lemon juice until the fruit tastes perky and bright — like the greatest stone fruit you’ve eaten.
- Step 2
Tear the mozzarella into bite-size pieces and nestle it among the fruit. Tuck in the herb leaves. Drizzle the platter with olive oil. If the cheese looks dry, add a little more oil. Sprinkle with a few grinds of black pepper and a pinch of flaky salt, and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
Tremendous. This was great with peaches, sour cherries (bumped the sugar up a smidge), basil, and mint. An old serious eats trick can help breath life into standard grocery store fresh mozzarella: soak it for an hour in warm (~110F) salted (1tsp/cup) whole milk.
This dish has a lemon-juice base so you wouldn't want to add another acid (even balsamic), which would muddle the flavor. Likewise choose either basil or mint (which are in the same family) but not both. In the Italian kitchen, less is always more. Resist the urge to kitchen-sink Italian recipes and instead focus on using a few ingredients, perfectly in season.
Roz, those are cherries in the photo, red ones and a few that look like early Rainier's. (Your idea of apricots, prosciutto and pistachios sounds fabulous btw.) I just made this with peaches, cherries, "very cherry" plums, basil and burrata rather than mozzarella. Killer. Thanks Ali for a great recipe template for summer fruit salads.
This is a life-changing recipe—a distillation of summer—and I’ve shared it with so many friends. My one change is that if the peaches are really good ones from the farmers market or farm stand (and those are the only ones you should use), I don’t bother with the lemon juice and sugar because there’s no need. Plums and cherries are great additions but for me, peaches are the star of the show.
It’s nuts how good this turned out! The method of mixing the stone fruit with lemon juice, sugar, and salt made nectarines taste absolutely incredible in this. Got super fragrant basil from the farmers market and added some early girl tomatoes. I thought the mozzarella (from Trader Joe’s) would be meh but altogether the whole salad was SO good. The last bit of flaky salt, fresh pepper, and lil bit of EVOO on top really set it off.
I mixed with tomatoes