Give Caprese Salad An Elevated Twist By Preparing It Like This

Creamy mozzarella, peak-season tomatoes, a few tears of fresh basil leaves, and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic: It's caprese, and it's kind of perfect exactly as it is. Although some purists may prefer it rustic and untouched, it's a dish that invites playful experimentation. You can chop it up, use sun-dried or cherry tomatoes, or swap in peaches or plums. Why mess with perfection? Because it's fun, and because caprese is deliciously modular.

Think of it less as a rigid recipe and more as a set of design elements. The mild, spongy mozzarella is a neutral canvas, highlighting a juicy, in-season element, the fruity acids grounded with an herbaceous green garnish. Olive oil and balsamic finish it, connecting all the components with a rich, bright balance. They're building blocks that fit together in pleasing proportion, and once you identify and understand them, you can stack or swap them however you want. 

If you want to play with the form and elevate your caprese salad, try hasselbacking your tomatoes. The effect is elegant and surprising: Thin vertical slices, just short of the base of the tomato, create a fan shape to tuck fresh mozzarella and basil into. The hasselback technique is kind of fussy, but visually striking and photogenic, and in these days of doing it for the 'gram, we hasselback everything from zucchini to squash, and even sausages. So why not tomatoes and mozzarella?

To hasselback your caprese, start with a firm, medium-to-large tomato. Heirloom tomatoes are a beautiful option, but any variety that's ripe and sturdy will work. Slice it vertically into thin sections, stopping just before you cut through the bottom. You're aiming for that accordion effect: Connected at the base, fanning open toward the top.

Slice your fresh mozzarella into rounds, or tear off layers to match the size of the tomato slices, and gently tuck them between the layers. Add fresh basil leaves, whole or torn, then drizzle with a little balsamic and a little more olive oil. Finish with flaky salt and cracked pepper. 

You can keep it minimal or treat it like a template. Try some peach slices along with, or instead of tomato, tuck in prosciutto, or scatter toasted pine nuts over the top. If you want to play with the flavors, add a swipe of pesto to the plate or a splash of Calabrian chili oil. 

This presentation might feel modern, but plating has always reflected the aesthetics of its time. In the grand French tradition of haute cuisine, refined as we know it by Chef Auguste Escoffier at the turn of the 20th century, dishes were lavishly arranged and served in courses that reflected aristocratic ideals: ornate, formal, and precise. In the mid-20th century, we saw food-as-sculpture, wild stuff like shrimp cocktails ornamenting Christmas trees and mashed potatoes piped into baroque curlicues. 

By the 1970s, nouvelle cuisine pushed back, trading richness for restraint and focusing on seasonal ingredients and cleaner lines, which led into fine dining's painterly phase: Sauces swept like pigment, single micro-green sprouts placed precisely with tweezers, and meats dotted with edible flowers like a Pollock canvas. The hasselback technique fits right into that lineage. It's structured and symmetrical, but also practical; the layers create more surface area for delicious textural variations. It originated in 1953 at Hasselbacken, a restaurant in Stockholm, where a student chef sliced a potato into thin, accordion-like layers before roasting it to crispy, fanned perfection. 

Apply the same approach to caprese, and you get something equally expressive; the structure allows each ingredient to hold its own space, pulling a flat composition into relief. The foundational elements we love stay the same, but the presentation becomes more dimensional. Don't forget to snap a pic!