Caprese Deconstructed Recipe

Method

Pickling The Cherry Tomatoes :

1) Nick the tomatoes lightly and plunge them in hot water for just a minute
2) Remove them with a slotted spoon and gently peel off the skin
3) Marinate them in the rice vinegar with the salt and sugar for at least 2 hours in the fridge.
4) Remove when ready to serve

Gazpacho :

1) Blend in a mixer the tomatoes,celery,peppers and cucumber with the olive oil to make a smooth purée.
2) Pass it through a fine sieve and season as per taste.
3) Could add a dash of Tabasco
4) Keep it to chill in the fridge until serving.

Basil Pearls/Caviar :

1) Blend basil leaves with 50 ml water in a small mixer.
2) Pass it through a sieve to get concentrated basil water.
3) In a small pot, add agar agar,castor sugar and mix well with 25 ml water.
4) Add the basil water to it.
5) Heat it to almost boiling point and then turn the heat off.
6) Let it cool down for a minute or two ,then with the help of a pipette or a small squeezy bottle. Put small droplets in the chilled oil so as to form pearls.
7) Gently remove  them with a slotted spoon and rinse the oil off  by immersing them in a bowl of cold water.
8) Pearls are ready to be garnished.

Basil Ice cream :

1) Boil the milk with the sugar and then reduce it while stirring continuously till it reduces to almost 200 ml.
2) Use a hand mixer to blend the finely chopped basil leaves in the concentrated milk and chill well.
3) Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker or freeze it in the freezer to make a smooth ice cream.

Assembling :

1) Finally,assemble by placing the mozzarella cheese in the center,place the pickled cherry tomatoes around and spooning generous amount of gazpacho so as to fill the plate.
2) Next, place a scoop of the basil ice cream atop the cheese and garnish with some basil pearls.
3) Lastly, drizzle some basil oil in the gazpacho for a full bodied basil flavour.

Caprese deconstructed is ready to be served!