Mini Caprese Bites

Southern Living magazine and cookbooks never steer me wrong.

Back in December '08 I prepared this appetizer for our Christmas dinner. This little bowling wasn't going to cut it, so I changed my app layout for a large serving plate.










This was the finished display.

Prep: 20 min. Grape tomatoes vary in size from week to week at the grocery store; some pints we found had only 24 while others had more than 40. Good news, you should still have enough mozzarella balls because they are generally sold in 8-oz. containers that have more than enough.

Yield: Makes 8 appetizer servings

Ingredients

• 1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved
• 10 to 14 fresh small mozzarella cheese balls, cut into thirds*
• 32 (4-inch) wooden skewers**
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Thread 1 tomato half, 1 piece of cheese, and another tomato half onto each skewer. Place skewers in a shallow serving dish.

2. Whisk together oil and next 3 ingredients. Drizzle oil mixture over skewers; sprinkle with basil and salt and pepper to taste.

*1 (8-oz.) package fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, may be substituted.

**Wooden picks may be substituted.

Marci Parham, Birmingham, Alabama, Southern Living, MAY 2008