Caprese Bread

This is one of my favorite nibble meals (my word for appetizers)! Sometimes for dinner, we just do a nibble meal happy hour with appetizers and cocktails or wine. I usually see Caprese salad or bread that is baked or toasted, all which are good, but my favorite is just with fresh homemade bread, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and basil topped with EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil). If you don't care for tomatoes (who doesn't like tomatoes? Sorry Monika), you can always use roasted red peppers. We have even added homemade hummus or avocados but usually only a few items works best or everything starts to slide off the bread.

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of bread (homemade or an Artesian loaf)

• Fresh Tomatoes (or substitute roasted red peppers)

• Fresh Basil (chopped) or Pesto in a Jar (Costco)

• Mozzarella Cheese (log or pre-sliced log)

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Sea Salt

• Fresh Ground Pepper

Instructions

Start with some fresh bread. If you do not want to make any, you can get a nice loaf of Artesian bread at the grocery store bakery. After slicing the bread into whatever width desired, drizzle with EVOO. Add the sliced cheese and tomatoes. Top with chipped fresh basil. Add salt and pepper then a last quick drizzle of EVOO.

TIP: To keep the chopped basil from falling off, you can place it underneath the tomatoes and cheese either chopped or whole.