At its best, this classic antipasto offers a timeless combination of clean and fresh summer flavors. But at its worst, it can be flavorless, with mealy tomatoes and soggy bread—hardly inspiring. Not only can thick tomato skins and bitter seeds add a less-than-desirable flavor and texture to your topping, but seeds add extra water, which can make your toasts runny and even soggy.
Bruschetta is often made with a large and rustic Italian loaf—a round of bread with a coarse enough crumb to absorb a generous drizzling of olive oil. Slice your bread too thick, and your ratio of fresh produce to grain will be off. For that perfectly-crispy crust and soft interior, we like to aim for about half an inch thickness.
Help the flavors of your tomato topping to meld by mixing your chopped tomatoes, olive oil, basil and seasoning, then allowing the entire mixture to steep for 10 to 15 minutes.
You've spent the time making a better bruschetta; now it's time to mix it up by adding some variation. Inspired by the Native American trio of corn, squash, and beans, my variation swaps beans for tomatoes! Start with your basic tomato topping, then add grilled corn and squash to taste. Using 2 parts basic topping, 1 part corn, and 1 part grilled zucchini makes for a delicious ratio. Smear the toasted baguette points with goat cheese, or crumble some queso fresco into the topping.
Make it vegan by using an avocado in place of goat cheese on the bread. Forget chopping basil and garlic — toss in a dollop of pesto instead! Despite being almost the same ingredients, the difference in taste between pesto and chopped basil and garlic is surprising. You can also use chimichurri for this variation, which is especially delicious when served on toast points that have been topped with a thinly sliced piece of grilled beef.
This time of year is great for mushroom foraging, and almost any wild mushroom lends itself to this recipe. Many stores carry local finds — Chanterelle and oyster mushrooms were available in my area, but even an ordinary button mushrooms will due. Mix and match and see what you like best! I found a ratio of 2 parts tomato to 1 part mushrooms to be ideal. Again, a smear of goat cheese on the bread elevates the flavor — use hummus to make it vegan.
Fresh mozzarella goes with tomatoes and basil like salt goes with pepper Dice cubes of mozzarella and add it to your basic bruschetta topping, or put slices on the bread before topping. Finish with a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar. The sky is the limit when it comes to bruschetta variations. Start with a good base by skinning and gutting your tomatoes, and using quality oil and balsamic.
Let your imagination take you from there! Want to go the extra mile? Try making your own baguettes! MrsPeas said:. This was amazing! Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you liked it! I usually make a double batch do I can eat it with sandwiches, pasta, chicken, seafood etc.! I was just thinking next time I will double the batch. Great idea to add it to all your other cooking too. Click here to cancel reply. Tags appetizer , basil , bruschetta , garlic , tomatoes Share it Twitter Facebook.
I even like to toss in a couple of handfuls of sliced cherry tomatoes, to get other shapes aside from cubes. A lot of recipes say to seed the tomatoes so that you're left with only the drier diced flesh, but I'm against this, since the seeds contain so much great flavor.
For the same reason, I don't like to pre-salt my tomatoes and drain the juices, as other recipes suggest.
Instead, I prefer to embrace the fruit's natural juiciness—all that tomato water can soak into the toasts, adding even more flavor. I put the salt on the toasts and tomatoes only at the very end, like a garnish. A nice sea salt or flaky finishing salt is great for this. I also prefer not to mix minced garlic into the tomatoes, since the bits of raw garlic can sometimes taste too harsh.
I find I get better control over the level of garlic flavor by making what the Italians call fettunta , in which you rub raw cloves into the toasts themselves before drizzling them with olive oil.
The cloves dissolve as you rub the toast with them, and you can add as much or as little as you like, while ensuring that each bite of the toast and tomatoes has an equal amount. It should go without saying that you must also use the best olive oil you can, so I'll move on to a less obvious issue, regarding the vinegar. Bruschetta is most often made using balsamic vinegar on the tomatoes.
I'm not opposed to this per se, but I caution against it unless you have the truly good stuff. Real balsamic is a very expensive condiment, naturally syrupy, with a complex sweet-tart flavor. If you have it, go ahead and drizzle it on the toasts. The problem is that most of the balsamic out there is not the real thing, but an ersatz concoction made from some cheaper vinegar pumped up with caramel color and flavors.
It's also nearly as thin as water, which makes it impossible to drizzle on top of your toasts. If this is the type of balsamic you have, then I'd encourage you to not bother with it here, as it will add very, very little.
Instead, taste your tomatoes, and if you think they need a little hit of acidity to balance their flavor, just add a splash of red or white wine vinegar; it'll deliver just what's needed without getting in the way. Whenever tomatoes are out of season, you should walk right past the produce section and head straight to the canned-foods aisle to grab a couple of tins of peeled whole tomatoes.
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