Fried Tomatillo Caprese Stacks

Submitted by Food.com

"When you're stuck between friend green tomatoes, Caprese salad and tomatillo salsa you need to drop everything and make these stacked salads — they'll satisfy every craving."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• Fried Tomatillos

• 1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 pinch cayenne
• 1 1⁄2 cups buttermilk
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 4 large tomatillos, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices, ends removed
• 1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• Salad Fixings

• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup basil leaves, washed and stems removed
• 1⁄4 cup balsamic glaze (you can use store bought)
• 5 cherry tomatoes

directions

1. Fried Tomatillos:

2. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, garlic powder, and cayenne together.
3. Pour the buttermilk into a separate bowl and season with salt and pepper.
4. Dip the tomatoes in the buttermilk and then dredge them in the cornmeal mixture, coating both sides well.
5. Place a large cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with the oil.
6. When the oil is hot, pan-fry the tomatoes (in batches if necessary) until golden brown and crispy on both sides, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
7. Carefully remove the tomatoes and drain on paper towels.

8. Create the Salad Stacks:

9. Cut mozzarella into slices (the same thickness as your tomatillos, about 1/2 an inch). Then, using a round biscuit cutter, trim the edges of the cheese to make perfect disks.
10. Slice your cherry tomatoes into quarters.
11. Start your salad stacks (you'll need 3 slices of fried tomatillos and 2 slices of cheese for each stack). Layer in the following order: tomatillos, mozzarella, basil, tomatillo, mozzarella, basil, tomatillo. Repeat until you've used all your tomatillos and cheese.
12. Top each stack with cherry tomatoes, basil and balsamic glaze. Serve while warm.