Caprese Ultimo

Il più eccellente! This salad completes scampi, a salmon fillet or steak. It is all you need to finish the meal.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• 2  large  ripe tomatoes
• 1  fresh mozzarella ball
• 1  small red bell pepper
• 1  small  yellow pepper
• 8 -10  basil leaves
• 10 -15  green beans (ends trimmed)
• 6  tablespoons olive oil
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  tablespoon  minced garlic
•  sea salt
•  balsamic vinegar or   balsamic vinegar, reduction

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400.
2. Cut peppers into 1" wide strips.
3. Put 2 tblspns olive oil in a pyrex baking dish and lay out the pepper strips skin side up in the dish.
4. Roast peppers in oven for 25-30 minutes or until skins start to loosen or brown.
5. Put 6 tblspns olive oil in a deep 12" frying pan and heat until oil starts to move.
6. Put garlic in oil, stir once and immediately remove from heat. The garlic should be flash fried brown, do not burn.
7. Remove garlic from oil and set aside.
8. Return oil to heat and add string beans and fry for about 1 minute or until just tender.
9. Remove beans and set aside.
10. Remove oil from pan and set aside to cool.
11. Remove peppers from oven and set aside to cool to room temperature.
12. Slice tomatoes and mozzarella into 1/2 inch rounds.
13. Arrange tomatoes on a dinner plate and top each round with a basil leaf and a mozzarella round.
14. Arrange beans and pepper strips on plate and sprinkle all with sea salt to taste.
15. Pour cooled olive oil over tomato stacks and dab each stack with balsamic.
16. Put a small amount of the flash fried garlic on top of each tomato stack.
17. Serve with scampi, salmon fillet or a steak.
18. Mangiare! (no I'm not Italian but the words enhance the experience).