The caprese salad comes from the Island of Capri, Italy, a country that symbolizes local gastronomy, particularly for combining the colors of its flag, as well as the traditional flavors of the area. This salad, in addition to perfectly accompanying pasta and chicken, can be a perfect filling for some delicious basil, tomato and cheese empanadas. Likewise, this is the proposal we have for you, however, instead of classic caprese empanadas or caprese empanadas, we want to show you how to put together appetizing and original baskets, so you can enjoy the striking colors of the caprese. Ideal to increase the consumption of vegetables.
Ingredients to make caprese baskets:
• 2 large tomatoes
• 60 grams of fresh cheese or mozzarella
• 10 basil leaves
• 5 olives
• 6 empanada disks
How to make caprese baskets:
Start the recipe for caprese baskets by cutting the tomato into cubes. To do this, peel it with an exclusive brush for food and cut it, removing the seeds, on the contrary, it will moisten the dough of your Mediterranean baskets too much.
Wash the basil leaves and disinfect them by immersing them for 15 minutes in a solution with 1 liter of water and 1 drop of bleach, suitable for food. Then, drain them so that they are very dry when it comes to assembling your filling. Reserve them. Cut the cheese into cubes and chop the olives. Now you have the main ingredients for your caprese baskets ready!
Tip: if you must consume foods without salt, avoid olives or rinse them before using them. In addition, you can choose a cheese without salt.
Mix all the ingredients and reserve them while you turn on the oven so that it preheats to maximum temperature, that is, 200 ºC – 220 ºC. Arrange the empanada tops in muffin tins so they will keep their basket shape. If you do not have this type of mold, you can use the base of cans previously washed and lined with aluminum foil, covering them with the lids. Only in the latter case will it be necessary to cook them for 5 minutes so that they keep their shape and you can fill them later. If you use muffin tins, you can fill the baskets and cook the lid along with the filling. Heat them for about 7 minutes in the oven, enough for the tops to brown and the cheese to melt. When the indicated time passes, you will be able to enjoy these caprese empanada baskets.
