Forgive me, my Italian friends, but I’m afraid I may have committed blasphemy.
I made bruschetta the only way I know how and I just love it that way.
I know in Italy they brush the garlic along the toasted bread but I prefer mine minced and mingling with the tomatoes.
I also love the addition of crumbed feta or grated Parmesan.
This appetiser/starter has to be one of my favourite dishes of all time, I could eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner and never tire if it!
I am sure there is a Nona out there shaking her head at my recipe, but I promise you if you try this mouth-watering, succulent, flavoursome bruschetta you will be nodding your head. Or if you just want to call it Nava’s Tomato on Toast, rather than bruschetta, then that would be okay too.
Ingredients
Bread, enough to get 9 decent-sized slices
500 g ripe tomatoes, chopped
½ a bunch of fresh basil, leaves only, chopped
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves crushed
Salt and pepper
I made my own balsamic vinegar concoction
with 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses and four tablespoons balsamic vinegar (ratio is 2:1)
Method
Preheat the oven to 210C
Line 2 trays with baking paper
Prepare the tomato mixture at least 15min in advance to allow the flavours to develop and the juice to drain to the bottom of the bowl.
Cut tomatoes into even-sized pieces, if you can, I’m hopeless .
Gently stir tomatoes with oil salt, garlic and pepper and let it sit in the bowl at room temp to let the flavours amalgamate and develop for about 15 min but no more than 30min or you’ll end up with tomato soup .
Slice the bread so the slices are 1& ½ cm thick.
Pour some olive oil into a small bowl and lightly brush both sides of the bread with it. Place bread on a prepared baking trays.
Toast bread 15-20 min (in my oven) or until bread is golden in colour, turning halfway through.
chop basil leaves, drain the juices from the tomato mixture (you don’t want bread to be soggy)
You can use the juices to drizzle on top of tomatoes once you have spooned them on top of the bread or discard it, it’s up to you!
Mix chopped basil with tomatoes.
Spoon on prepared bread drizzle with balsamic and pomegranate molasses.
Enjoy xx
Commentaires