As mentioned in the comments, I'd suggest using server side verification (always), optionally adding client side verification (mutual authentication).

I think for user's perspective it would be useful to see these two additional configs:

1. TLS with server side verification only (using some public ws server if available)
2. Mutual authentication -- with self signed certificates

@david-cermak thank you for the review.
I've updated the example with the following changes:

1. The server now always checks the client's certificates ssl_context.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_REQUIRED.
2. Both client and server now perform mutual authentication using self-signed certificates.
3. The client bypasses server certificate verification by enabling CONFIG_ESP_TLS_SKIP_SERVER_CERT_VERIFY=y. But, it uses public and private keys, allowing the server to authenticate the client's identity through its certificates

Please let me know if this adjustment looks ok for you