Easy Caprese Toast Recipe

A quick breakfast doesn’t need to be boring! In the time it takes to toast the bread, you’ll have everything else ready to go for this fresh and delicious open-faced sandwich.

Ready in less than 5 minutes

I try not to spend too much time making breakfast most days—a piece of toast, a scrambled egg, nothing fancy. But in about the same amount of time, I can make a delicious, fresh, open-faced sandwich that looks like it took a lot of effort.

We just need a few good ingredients to put it together.

Use hearty bread

I usually make this when I have some interesting bread around. I’ve been working on a loaf of sourdough for almost a week, which means that it’s been moved from the breadbox to the fridge and only tastes good now when toasted, which is perfect for this sandwich.

It’s not that it would be bad with plain soft bread, but a sturdy, more rustic bread will complement the other flavors, and hold up better (we’re going to be mashing some cheese on with a fork, which might tear through a softer bread).

Fresh tomatoes

Listen, I’m not a fresh-food zealot. I love frozen dinners and many, many processed foods. But there are some cases where there really is no substitute for fresh ingredients, and this is one of them.

If you have access to fresh tomatoes year-round, then you can make this sandwich anytime. I have several AeroGardens, and I always have tomatoes going in one of them.

But if you can only get really good, fresh tomatoes at certain times of the year, either from your own garden or a farmer’s market, save this sandwich for those times.

Which tomatoes are best?

If you have a choice, go for a tomato with a thinner skin and higher water content. Beefsteak tomatoes, cocktail tomatoes (like Campari), heirloom tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes are all excellent choices.

If your cherry tomatoes are big enough, just slice them like a regular tomato. If they’re on the smaller side, you might want to cut them in half and smush them just a bit before putting them on the sandwich, cut-side up. That way they won’t roll off, but they’ll still grab on to the salt and pepper.

Grape tomatoes will work, but their smaller size and thicker skins make them better suited for sautéing or roasting (like in Pasta with Feta and Tomatoes, which is a delicious weeknight dinner that can be ready in half an hour, start to finish). If you do use grape tomatoes on this sandwich, prepare them like the small cherry tomatoes above.

Have more fresh tomatoes to use? They’re the main attraction in this sandwich.

Storing fresh tomatoes

Have you heard over and over that you should never ever put tomatoes in the refrigerator, that it will ruin their flavor forever?

Not true! Don’t believe it! Or better yet, try it yourself.

Just let the tomatoes get to their peak ripeness at room temperature, then store them in the refrigerator (an upper shelf near the front is best, that’s usually the warmest part of the fridge). Then, take the tomatoes out of the fridge ahead of time so that they come back to room temperature before you eat them.

Fresh basil

This recipe uses Genovese basil. That’s the sweet kind usually used to make pesto. The leaves can get so big that it’s almost like putting a piece of lettuce on your sandwich!

If you’re in the store and it’s just labeled “basil” then that’s almost definitely Genovese. Sometimes grocery stores even sell it as a plant, which is a great way to buy it.

Growing basil

Basil is one of the easiest herbs to grow, even indoors if you’ve got a nice sunny spot or a grow light.

And if you can get your hands on a sprig of fresh basil, you can grow your own basil plant for free! This is called propagation, and it works with a lot of different herbs. Just sprout the basil sprig in a glass of water until the roots are a couple inches long, then transplant it to a pot.

Storing basil

Basil doesn’t do well in the fridge. If you have sprigs, they’re really easy to store: just put the stems in a glass in a few inches of water (make sure the leaves aren’t under water), and keep them at room temperature like flowers.

If the stems are short and keep falling into the water, you can use this method to keep them steady. And if the stems are really long, you can use a taller deli container. (This is also how I package up herbs to give away for propagation.)

If you have a box of picked basil, it’s best to crack open the top so some air can get in, keep it on the counter at cool room temperature, and use it quickly.

Washing basil

Basil is very fragile, and should be handled with care, or else it will turn black and ugly. The best way I’ve found to wash basil is to fill a bowl with cold water, put the picked basil leaves in, swish them around gently, and then either pour them into a colander, or if you’re only working with a few, take them out of the water with your hands. Gently pat them dry with a lint-free towel.

Fresh mozzarella

Fresh mozzarella has a totally different texture and taste from the kind that you shred and put on a NY-style pizza, and it’s fresh mozzarella you want for this sandwich.

Any shape of fresh mozzarella will do, but I like to use bocconcini, which are small, soft balls of cheese that are perfect for this.

Variations

The recipe below is by far my favorite version of this sandwich, but if you want something close and don’t have those specific ingredients, or want to “jazz it up a little” as my grandmother used to say, here are a few substitutes and additions you can make.

Smoked mozzarella

I don’t personally like smoked cheese, but if you do, I bet smoked fresh mozzarella would go great in this.

Ricotta

Spread ricotta cheese onto the toast instead of fresh mozzarella.

Feta

For a more tangy sandwich, substitute feta for the fresh mozzarella. Just don’t use too much, or it will overpower the tomatoes and basil.

Pesto

If you don’t have fresh basil, you can substitute basil pesto. If it’s thick, spread it onto the bread before the mozzarella. If it’s thinner, drizzle it onto the cheese.

Garlic

If you want to add some bite, add a little fresh garlic to the toast before you put on the cheese. Just grab a peeled clove, and rub it right on. The toast will act like a little grater! Just rub on a little though, it’s easy to add too much this way.

Olive oil

A little good olive oil will make this sandwich fancy. Don’t use the stuff you would cook with, though. Use something like this, my favorite. Drizzle it onto the tomatoes, before the salt and pepper.

Yes, it’s a little pricey, but you only use a little. And it’s also great for dipping fresh bread into.