Description: Easy and quick canape to prepare for a party or appetiser at home. You may even add a piece on the side of your salad or main dish. It would look pretty as decoration too. You can make it with your children as it does not really involve using knives. As a carb-free canapé, people who require insulin injections do not need to count carbs 🙂
Serves: 8 pieces (4 servings)
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• Cherry tomatoes – 8 pieces or 50g
• Prosciutto – cut into 4 pieces, 2 slices
• Basil leaves – 8 leaves or 4g
• Mini bocconcini cheese balls – 8 pieces
• Black pepper – ground, according to personal taste
• Toothpicks – 8 pieces
• Olive oil – 1 teaspoon

Method

1. Cut the strips of prosciutto in a quarter (2 to 3 cm long each), then roll it up and skewer it with a toothpick.
2. Wrap a piece of fresh basil leaves around a mini bocconcini ball, and push it onto the toothpick.
Then put a cherry tomato on top of the toothpick.
3. Add some ground black pepper and enjoy!

Nutritional Values Per Serving (2 pieces)

Kcal	Protein	Fat	Carbs	Fibre	Sugars	Salt	Saturated Fat
59.9	4.0g	4.8g	0.5g	0.2g	0.4g	0.3g	1.9g
3.0%	7.9%	6.9%	0.2%	0.6%	0.4%	5.3%	9.5%

Nutritional Tips

This dish is carb-free, therefore it makes it easier for those who need to count carbs. In general, cheeses are high in fat, so even though we say no carb, fat content might contribute to higher calories if eaten in a large amount. Also, cheese and processed meat (such as ham) contain quite a bit of salt, so it is important to think about your salt intake at the same time. The calories of 2 pieces of this Caprese bite are equal to the calories of a cup of miso soup.

There are five well-known taste receptors in our mouth which send taste sensations to our brain (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, savoury). Also, smells help us to taste the flavour of food. All parts of the tongue can sense the tastes, but the sides are more sensitive. The only bitter taste is very sensitive on the back of our tongue to protect ourselves so that we can spit before swallowing (Informed Health Online,  Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006).

This dish is very simple to make, yet fresh basil leaves and olive oil give a nice harmony. I recommend not adding any additional salt as processed meat (ham) and cheese already contain salt. Also, without additional salt, you can fully enjoy the taste and flavour of the ingredients. You might feel the dish is bland in the beginning and be tempted to add some salt, however, if you keep trying to go for lower-salt dishes, the human tongue adjusts its sense. You may try to reduce the salt intake by reducing additional salt or the consumption of ready-made meals. At some point, you will start feeling more ingredients’ tastes and start feeling that ready-made food has a really thick taste 🙂 This is my own experience, but there are some studies as well supporting this (Beauchamp et al, Annals of Internal Medicine, 1983 May;98(5 Pt 2):763-9., Blais et al, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1986;44(2):232–243. , Mattes, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1997;65(2 (Supplement)):692S–697S., Bertino et al, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1982;36(6):1134–1144). I understand that everyone has a different tongue, but trying is free. So why don’t you try?