Last week I told you about our visit to the Acetaia Villa San Donnino to see how traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena is made. While I would argue that the authentic, traditional version of Balsamic Vinegar is best if you can get your hands on it, I also think it's important to be able to make your own version at home with ingredients that are readily available in any grocery store. Balsamic Glaze is especially good to have on hand if your husband also happens to love balsamic on anything and everything. It's very good on meat, strawberries, watermelon, cheese, etc. My personal favorite way to enjoy some balsamic glaze is on a Caprese Salad. Caprese Salad is basically my favorite meal, especially here in Italy where incredible mozzarella is extremely affordable and readily available.
Balsamic Vinegar from the grocery store is used often on salads just the way it is, but if you take a few minutes to make up a batch of Balsamic Glaze, you won't be disappointed. By sweetening the Balsamic vinegar with brown sugar, and simmering it until it has reduced and thickened into a more syrup-like consistency allows the flavors to develop a bit, and also tames the acidity and the "kick" that it has when served straight from the bottle. The result is wonderful. It is a bit milder than the "traditional" in my opinion, which I really like on this salad, so it doesn't overpower the mozzarella and tomatoes.
Due to the way that grocery store Balsamic vinegar is made with alcohol and sugars and other added ingredients, it is possible to use it in cooking without destroying its flavor, in fact, it improves and mellows with cooking. This is a stark contrast to the Traditional Balsamic Vinegars of Modena which are made with cooked grape juice as their only ingredient. The aging process is what gives them their color and flavor. Cooking a Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena would destroy the flavor completely and is never recommended. They're more similar in flavor and consistency to a Balsamic Glaze anyway, so cooking it would not be necessary.
PrintCaprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1 cup Balsamic Glaze 1x
Ingredients
For the Balsamic Glaze:
- 2 cups Balsamic Vinegar
- ½ cup brown sugar or honey
For the Caprese Salad:
- 2 balls fresh mozzarella (buffalo mozzarella, if you can find it)
- 2 ripe tomatoes
- Fresh salad greens
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Drizzle of Balsamic Glaze
- Sea salt
Instructions
To make the Balsamic Glaze:
- In a small saucepan, bring the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar or honey to a simmer. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. (Glaze will thicken a bit more as it cools.)
Assemble the salad:
- Arrange greens, tomatoes, and mozarella as you would like. Slicing and layering the tomatoes and mozzarella make it pretty, but also makes it easy to get even amounts of each ingredient in every bite.
- Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze. Season with freshly ground sea salt to taste.
Notes
Balsamic Glaze is also a great accompaniment to steaks, fruit, cheeses, fish, pasta, or even ice cream.
Chantal
In the ingredients you say to use brown sugar but in the directions you say honey. Which is it?
Mandy
You can use either brown sugar or honey, whichever you would like. They both work well. My personal preference as far as flavor goes is the brown sugar version. While living in Italy though, brown sugar was nearly impossible to come by, so I made it with honey instead and it was delicious too.
Patricia Gibbs
I can't seem to get the glaze to thicken. I added 2 cups of balsamic to a saucepan with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, brought it to a boil then simmered it and it didn't reduce. What am I doing wrong.
Mandy
It doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong. It typically takes mine about 30 minutes of gentle boiling to reduce by half, resulting in 1 cup of glaze. Once it cools down it will thicken a bit more.