Tomato Basil Mozzarella Canapés

My Tomato Basil Mozzarella Canapés look stellar and are sure to “wow” the crowd at your next party. They are low carb, but will satisfy your carb-loving attendees just as well. Everyone will think you are a culinary master when they see these little beauties. Keep it our secret, but these are SO quick and easy to make. With three simple ingredients and some toothpicks, these canapés are plated and ready in no time.

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Canapés

The Ingredients

These canapés have three simple ingredients – small tomatoes (like cherry or grape), fresh mozzarella pearls, and fresh hand-torn basil. I love the H-E-B Select Sweet Tomatoes. The tub comes with red, yellow and purple tomatoes in a variety of shapes and sizes. They add a great variety of color to the plated canapés.

Basil is one of my favorite herbs. It’s so fragrant, and instantly reminds me of fresh Italian food. Grab a bunch from your local grocer for this recipe. Each canapé gets a little piece of basil, so one bunch will be more than enough.

My local H-E-B grocery store has a few brands of mozzarella pearls. “Pearls” or “Perle” are little bite-sized balls of fresh mozzarella, and the perfect size for the canapés. One 16 oz tub of pearls had about 24 mini balls of mozzarella, and was just enough for my canapés. If mozzarella pearls are not available, get a couple of regular balls of fresh mozzarella, and cut them into bite-sized cubes.

The Execution

Gather the tomatoes. Slice a small bit off one end of each tomato. The flat side will sit on the plate, and the tomato will be the base for the canapé.

Tear small bite-sized pieces of basil – one piece per canapé. Open the tub of mozzarella pearls. Finally, get some toothpicks. Stand the cut tomatoes up on a cutting board.  Push a mozzarella pearl on the end of a toothpick. Next stack a piece of basil on a standing tomato, and push the mozzarella-toothpick on top of the basil and straight down through the tomato. Repeat until all of your tomatoes are topped with a piece of basil and mozzarella.

Arrange the assembled canapés on a serving platter. Set out for guests to enjoy. These can be assembled up to 6 hours prior to serving as long as the plate is covered well in cling wrap. Preparing earlier than 6 hours is not recommended, because it may cause the mozzarella to dry out.