How to Make Basil, Cherry Tomato And Black Olive Caviar With Balsamic Pearls

What is the Dish?

A canape that pairs basil, tomato, garlic and black olive, cut through with intense, acidic pearls of balsamic vinegar.

This is delicious as a pre-meal snack to tease your customers’ taste buds or if you’re catering for a party.

The quick prep time also means it’s possible to mix and match this recipe with others in our canape selection, meaning you can assemble an entire menu at very short notice.

The ingredients below make 16 canapes costing £4.48 – offering you a potential profit of £5.60.

Ingredients

Bring the foundation flavours of Italy to your party with a showstopper of a canape your guests will love.

The taste of sweet tomatoes, garlic, earthy black olives and balsamic vinegar pearls is a classic combination.

Canapes are a great way to experiment with flavour combinations or tease dishes from your restaurant menu.

The saltiness of the canape is also likely to encourage your guests to drink more, giving you the opportunity to upsell cocktails and wine.

What Steps Do I Follow?

1. Place a container of olive oil into the freezer for 30 minutes.


2. Cut the cherry tomatoes and cut in half keeping the stalk side at the bottom


3. Slice a thin layer of the bottom of each half allowing the tomato to sit without rolling around


4. Using a teaspoon, spoon the seeds out of the tomato half leaving an empty cup


5. To make the filling, place the olives, garlic, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil and a pinch of pepper into a food processor and blitz the mixture for about 10 seconds to a coarse finish


6. Transfer to a bowl and place to one side


7. To make the pearls, put the balsamic vinegar, two teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of agar agar into a small saucepan


8. Place on the stove on a high heat


9. Reduce to a simmer for 3-4 minutes until the sugar and agar agar have dissolved


10. Allow the mixture to cool to a temperature of 27°c making sure it’s gloopy and doesn’t become too thick


11. Take three containers or jugs, fill one with cold water and the other with the oil from the freezer


12. Using a pipette squeeze little droplets of the balsamic mixture into the olive oil - these will form the pearls


13. Place a sieve over the empty container and pour the oil through it until all the pearls are sitting in the sieve


14. Then tip the pearls into water to wash them before sieving again to remove the pearls


15. Take the caviar filling you prepared earlier and spoon a teaspoon of the mixture into the tomato cups


16. Make an indent on the top of the filling to house the pearls using the handle of a pastry brush and place a few pearls on top of each canape


17. Top with sprigs of fresh micro basil and serve

What Equipment Do I Need?

Here you'll find the tools of the trade needed to replicate this canape for your menu.