Recipe: Bruschetta with Tomatoes — Direct from Italy
By Michelle Fabio
Summertime means loads of fresh, delicious tomatoes, and here in southern
But before we get to the recipe, let’s get something straight: it’s pronounced “brew-SKET-tah” not “brew-SHET-tah,” no matter what your waitress at the Olive Garden tries to tell you.
Bruschetta dates back to 15th century central
They poured their freshly made olive oil over the toasted bread, sometimes rubbing in some garlic first–and we still make bruschetta essentially the same way.
Indeed, “bruschetta” actually refers to the bread, olive oil, and garlic combination–the tomato topping came later, but it’s how most of us know this toasted bread combo today.
Bruschetta with Tomatoes
(Bruschetta al Pomodoro)
(makes 6 pieces)
6 thick slices Italian or French style bread (stale if possible)
1/4 cup best olive oil you can find
2 large, ripe tomatoes (or more if smaller), diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
4 large basil leaves, chopped
sprinkling of oregano and salt
Prepare the tomato mixture first to give the flavors time to blend.
A note on preparing the tomatoes, especially if they are rather juicy, you might want to give them a squeeze before dicing to get rid of excess juice; otherwise the mixture gets a little runny and messy once you try to put it on the bread.
Some also recommend cleaning out all the seeds, And if you don’t like skins, parboil the tomatoes for a minute in boiling water just removed from the burner and then peel with a sharp knife.
In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, olive oil, basil, oregano, and salt to taste. You can use either oregano or basil as well–both are not necessary. Grill or toast bread.
When the bread is toasted and still hot, rub well with the “raw” side of the garlic cloves.
Spoon the tomato mixture on top, and serve hot.
And as we say here in
September 18th, 2007 at 1:00 am
I LOVE THIS EASY BRUSCHETTA RECIPE!!!!!!!!
IS THERE A SAFE WAY TO PRESERVE OR CAN THIS RECIPE?
September 19th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Lin, good question, but I really don’t know of a good way to preserve this–once the tomatoes sit in the oil and/or in the refrigerator where you’d have to store this, they tend to lose any kind of firmness and indeed, flavor as well.
This is best made fresh, but since it’s so easy, it’ll only take a few minutes anyway.
December 13th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Hi Michelle. You are doing an execellent job. I enjoy it and find a lot of good information that I can use in my journal. THANKS so much.
DAD
December 13th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Hi Dad, thanks so much for your comment! I’m glad you’re finding a lot of useful information here; hopefully we’ll keep giving you more for your journal