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1
Remove the mozzarella from its brine and set it on a rack or folded cloth at room temperature for 45–60 minutes before service. The ball should feel yielding and warm to the touch — never cold and firm.
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2
Halve the Piennolo tomatoes through the equator. Do not squeeze, press or seed them. Inspect the cut face: it should glisten with juice and show the tomato's characteristically thick, dry-fleshed walls.
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3
Tear the mozzarella by hand directly onto individual plates — never a shared platter — in irregular pieces of roughly equal mass. The torn surface should show the fibrous, layered interior; no two pieces need match. This is where the dish lives or dies: even, knife-cut rounds shed oil uniformly and offer no purchase for dressing; irregular torn surfaces absorb oil at different rates, creating pockets of richness against clean dairy.
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4
Arrange the halved tomatoes among the mozzarella pieces on each plate, cut-face upward, so the juice falls onto the cheese rather than pooling on the plate.
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5
Tear the basil leaves — preferring the small leaves from the stem-tips — and scatter them across each plate. The leaves should release their scent immediately on tearing.
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6
Season with flaky sea salt at the last possible moment: applied early, salt draws moisture from the mozzarella and fills the plate with watery whey. The crystals should sit visibly on the surface.
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7
Pour the Campanian olive oil generously over each plate in a slow, deliberate stream. The oil should pool briefly in the hollows of the torn mozzarella before settling. No vinegar, no balsamic — the Piennolo's natural acidity is the only counterpoint required. Serve immediately.