Creamsicle Caprese Salad (with toasted pine nuts)

Winter has never seen a prettier salad than this little number right here. These ingredients cannot help but steal alllll of the shows, scenes, AND hearts of all who make her acquaintance. Ahem. Yes, so I am clearly a fan of caprese salads (there are plenty on this site to prove that) and this Creamsicle Caprese is just fun. Creamy, citrusy, sweet, salty, crunchy – it’s got a whole gaggle of adjectives that would perfectly describe it. This, incidentally, is the single most important prerequisite for any salad I make, ever. For soup’s too, for that matter.

Read on to get the run-down on this bombshell of a recipe or you can just jump ahead to the recipe itself. There’s a handy link for that because I know you aren’t all interested in my waxing on and on about this. That said, in my posts, I typically stay away from needless drivel about irrelevant minutiae and stick to the matters at hand. And by that I mean the recipes.

The recipes are the matter. Yes, onward we go.

What the heck is a Creamsicle Caprese?

I know, right? Alright, allow me to explain this one. Sometimes, when you work as an internet food person, you have to send recipes out into the edible ether that exist solely because you want them to – you want them to be in the world for people to enjoy, because you do. Now, that may sound like a “duh,” sort of thing to you, but the absolute truth of things is that, when you work as a food blogger, much of the recipes you write and share need to not only make you and your readers happy – they also have to perform well on Google. Or else, you may need to hang up the whisks and camera and find a different job.

I never, ever share recipes I don’t really like. I’d never do that. But usually I send recipes out that are not only tasty, but they’re also things that will (hopefully) do well on Google so people will find them and actually make them (that’s how this all works). So, when you see a recipe that is totally original, as in – I made it up and it wasn’t a thing before it exploded in my brain – then you know people wouldn’t be Googling it, and therefore it is only here because I care about it, and I just simply need it to be here. For you. For me.

This Creamsicle Caprese isn’t a thing that you’ll find people searching for, so strategically speaking, it’s not brilliant on my part. (This is me being tres’ transparent with you re: the behind the scenes workings of a food blogger’s business). But alas. I love this salad a whole lot and, regardless of the fact that it’s not technically “going to do well on Google,” am very thrilled to be sharing it with you here.

Love is love, y’all. And I love this one.

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Like a traditional Caprese went on winter holiday

So let’s start by laying out what a classic Italian caprese salad entails. Hailing from the incomparably stunning Isle of Capri, this little beloved salad consists of the following:

1. Fresh tomatoes.
2. Fresh basil.
3. Fresh mozzarella.

Like a Margherita pizza, it reflects the colors of the Italian flag, and is a fantastic flavor combination all around. You get the acid from the tomatoes, balanced by the creamy, milky, mellowing goodness of the cheese, and the fresh, herbaceous, almost floral notes of the basil. It’s summery as all get out, basically.

So, to winterize things a bit, I simply introduce some produce/products into the mix that are a little more appropros during the more frigid months of the year. In this one? We’re using juicy, glowing oranges, some good quality store-bought pesto (I use Rana brand because it’s just the BEST), toasted pine nuts for some nutty warmth, and we’re getting a little bougie with some burrata.

What you’ll need

Please know that this salad is really pretty flexible – you shouldn’t avoid making it because you don’t know what burrata is and are annoyed at me for calling for it (I get it). You can absolutely sub in mozzarella and it will be FANTASTIC. As for the oranges, pick what you like! I swear half the fun of testing this was going in the store and selecting from the variety of pretty citrus they had available. This is the time to play around with that, while the gettin’s good.

Lastly, cherry tomatoes are good all year round, let’s be honest. They are essentially season-less. But even so, they are about 1,000,001 times better when they are sort of half-roasted. So, that’s what we’ll do. Just tumble them onto a pan and roast them for about 15 t0 20 minutes, or just until they begin to pop and spit. This means that the sugars will be more intense and the whole tomato situation will be MUCH more enjoyable. They’ll stand up to the citrus now and people will be like, whoah.

INGREDIENTS

½ pint grape or cherry tomatoes

5 or 6 oranges of any variety, mixed if you like, peeled (tangerines, mandarines blood orange, Cara Caram Sumo, etc.)

Two balls of burrata cheese, torn (or 8 ounces of fresh mozzarella, torn or sliced)

¼ cup pine nuts

⅓ to ½ cup good quality pesto (Rana brand is affordable, widely available and the best I’ve tried)

Salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

How to make this citrusy caprese salad

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Scatter the tomatoes on a baking sheet and roast them just until they begin to shrivel and pop; takes about 18 to 20 minutes or so. This just brings out their sweetness and dramatically concentrates their flavor.
2. Meanwhile, put the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast them, stirring occasionally just until they turn golden brown; takes about 1 to 2 minutes (watch them!). Transfer them to a bowl when they’re done.
3. 3. You can assemble on individual plates or on a big platter (as pictured). To assemble, slice or break apart the oranges however you like (I do a combo of slices and wedges). Arrange them on the serving dish, followed by the roasted tomatoes. Nestle in some of the burrata or mozzarella, just tearing and tucking in big pieces however you like. Scatter the toasted pine nuts over top of everything and serve with pesto on the side or you can drop big dollops of it around the platter. No rules here!

If you like the looks of this Creamsicle Caprese salad, then you might also want to check out:

Watermelon Caprese Salad with Candied Bacon Dressing

Sweet Corn Caprese with Crispy Prosciutto

Cloud Caprese Cups (Marinated Tomatoes with Whipped Mozzarella)

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