Caprese Salad Rice Paper Rolls with Kale Pesto #arthurstreetkitchen.

What a great idea: Rice paper rolls go Italian : with tomatoes, bocconcini, basil and a dipping of pesto ! Thanks to Arthur street kitchen.
* Even if you don’t make the rolls the kale pesto looks great.

You need for 4 fashionistas and 32 models:

12-16 sheets rice paper
1-2 cups cooked kale
1 lb/450g fresh mozzarella (bocconcini are ok)
½ cup (tightly packed) basil leaves
2-3 cups cooked rice noodles or mung bean vermicelli

Slow roasted tomatoes
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
3 sprigs thyme
½ clove garlic, finely chopped
pinch dried basil or oregano leaves
sea salt and black pepper

Kale Pesto (Makes 1.5 cups)
100g kale
1 cup (tightly packed) basil leaves
1 small clove garlic, roughly chopped
½ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
2 tsp sea salt
black pepper
¾ cup olive oil
½ cup grated parmesan cheese

NB: If you don’t have 1-2 hours to spare on the tomatoes, use store bought sun-dried tomatoes sliced up!

•  You can make the tomatoes ahead of time and keep them in the fridge
•  To make the kale pesto, add the kale, basil and garlic to the bowl of a food processor or blender and whizz it up. Next add the pepitas, sea salt and a grind of black pepper; whizz again. Give it a mix around to make sure everything is incorporated.
•  Then pour in the olive oil and blend it all together.
•  Pour it into a small bowl and stir in the parmesan cheese.
•  For the slow roasted tomatoes, place the halved cherry tomatoes on a baking tray.
•  Sprinkle over sea salt, black pepper, a few dried basil leaves, garlic and the thyme.
•  Roast in a low oven – about 140˚C / 285˚F – for 1-2 hours until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.
•  To assemble, fill a large, wide shallow dish with warm water.
•  Dunk the rice paper into the water and allow to soften for 1 minute – don’t let it get too soft as it will break when rolling.
•  When soft enough to roll, lay it out flat on a chopping board and start to assemble your filling.
•  Starting at the edge of the rice paper closest to you (and leaving enough room to begin the rolling process), place a small handful of noodles.
•  Then layer the tomato, kale, mozzarella and basil.
•  To roll, bring the edge closest to you over the filling – pull it tight to keep everything in place.
•  Fold over once, then fold in the sides and continue to roll until you have a nice, tightly bound roll.
•  Continue rolling until you have run out of sheets and/or fillings.
•  To serve, cut each roll in half, with the kale pesto on the side as a dipping sauce.
•  Amazing.