Caprese Salad With Pumpkin Seed, Chili Pesto

Name: Thermomix recipe: Caprese Salad With Pumpkin Seed, Chili Pesto
Prep time: 5 min
Ingredients: 60 Grams pepitas; 60 Grams pine nuts; 100 Grams parmesan cheese cubed; 2 cloves garlic; 1/2 red chilli seeds optional; Pinches pink salt flakes; Handfuls basil leaves; Handfuls rocket leaves; 1 Teaspoon cayenne pepper; 70-80 Grams fresh lemon juice; 100 Grams Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO); 2 tomatoes per serving, sliced; 1 Batch Thermomix Bocconcini torn into pieces; Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) more as needed; seasoning to taste

Serves 6 Prep Time 5 minutes Rated: Print

Tomatoes, mozzarella and a pumpkin seed chilli pesto that makes basil leaves look like they're not even trying.

A caprese salad is only ever as good as what's on top of it, and a few torn basil leaves and a glug of oil is fine, but fine isn't why we're here. This one gets dressed with a pumpkin seed chilli pesto: toasty, nutty (without any nuts, so it's school- and allergy-friendly), with enough chilli to keep things interesting and not so much that it bullies the tomatoes.

The pesto is the real recipe here, and it's the one you'll end up making on repeat. It's done in the Thermomix in seconds, keeps in the fridge for the week, and goes on everything: pasta, eggs, roast veg, a cheese toastie at 10pm. The salad is just the excuse. Use the best tomatoes you can get your hands on, tear the mozzarella (or burrata, if you're feeling generous), and spoon the pesto over like you mean it.

This recipe is a keeper, totally delish and easy. Feel free to try the pesto on anything else, or as a dip or sandwich filling, salad dressing etc.

Serving suggestions

As a starter, serve it with plenty of crusty sourdough or warm focaccia to mop up the pesto and tomato juices. Leaving any on the plate is a crime.

For a light meatless dinner, pile it next to garlicky flatbreads or a simple bowl of pasta tossed through with an extra spoonful of the pesto.

As a side, it's made for the barbecue. Put it next to grilled haloumi, charred corn or barbecued eggplant, or alongside grilled lamb or chicken for the meat-eaters.

For a crowd, set it out as part of a grazing spread with olives, marinated artichokes, prosciutto and a wedge of good pecorino, and let people help themselves.

Need

The Pesto
60 Grams pepitas
60 Grams pine nuts
100 Grams parmesan cheese cubed
2 cloves garlic
1/2 red chilli seeds optional
Pinches pink salt flakes BUY
Handfuls basil leaves
Handfuls rocket leaves
1 Teaspoon cayenne pepper
70-80 Grams fresh lemon juice
100 Grams Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) BUY
The Salad
2 tomatoes per serving, sliced
1 Batch Thermomix Bocconcini torn into pieces Recipe
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) more as needed BUY
seasoning to taste

Do

1: Toast seeds and pine nuts in a dry fry pan on a high heat tossing frequently, until fragrant and golden. Set aside to cool.
2: Place parmesan, garlic, chili and salt into the mixing bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.
3: Add remaining ingredients, including nuts and blend 10 sec/speed 8. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. (More salt or lemon juice)
4: Slice tomatoes and arrange on a serving plate. (More is more!)
5: Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with EVOO.
6: Drizzle with the pesto generously. If you have spare basil leaves, use to garnish. Serve with crusty bread.

Served with

Tenina Holder is a wife, mother of five and grandmother of nine, who started cooking in the olden days before Thermomix was even a thing.

Tenina has become the premium go to source for all Thermomix expertise and of course fresh and easy recipes that work. Her cooking classes and foodie trips are sold out in literally hours, her cookbooks appear on the Australian best seller lists and her social reach is in the millions. Her Insider Club is the most fun you can have with a Thermomix and you really should join her! She believes chocolate, butter and salt are health foods. Her food positivity mantra is, eat everything, just not all at once!