Tomato Bruschetta Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 5-8 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Makes: 6 slices of tomato bruschetta
Ingredients Needed
- 6 slices pane di casa bread
- 3 small cloves garlic, peeled but not crushed
- 75ml/2.6flozs extra virgin olive oil
- 450g/1lb tomatoes
- 10 large basil leaves
- Salt and black pepper
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 GRILL - Slice the bread into 1.5cm/0.6inch slices. Grill until golden all over on both sides. Drizzle with olive oil (be quite generous).
Step 2 RUB - Take a clove of garlic and rub it against the bread-the crunchy toast will act like a garlic grater. I use a lot of garlic (like almost half a small clove per slice).
Step 3 DICE - Dice the tomatoes and place in a bowl. Stack the basil leaves on top of each other and roll them up. Slice thinly (aka chiffonade) the basil. Mix with the tomatoes and add a generous amount of olive oil and salt. Season with black pepper and taste and add more salt if needed. No need to marinate or let the tomatoes steep.
Step 4 TOP - Take a spoonful of the tomato mixture (just tilt the spoon against the bowl to drain) and top the bread with the tomatoes and serve. I also put a teaspoon of the tomato water back on top of the tomatoes so that it isn't bone dry. Serve within 30 minutes.
Substitution notes and ingredients:
This recipe is about summer freshness so fresh basil, garlic and tomatoes. So I don't have any subs for these ingredients-sorry!
Look for ripe, red tomatoes and always store your tomatoes at room temperature. Sometimes I buy them 3-4 days ahead of time and let them ripen even further on the benchtop.
I prefer basil in pots because I find the ones already picked don't last very long.
I know I've been going on about pane di casa vs other breads but really you can sub it with other white bread loaves like sourdough and ciabatta too (I'm just saying that pane di casa is ideal if you have a choice). Just make sure to toast them well.
Personal Note
I really grilled Monica (no pun intended) about making bruschetta. We go through so many tomatoes in this household in spring and summer and now that the weather is warming and we are having people over this is what I've been serving.
There are so many recipes where balsamic vinegar and onion are used and I've made some but they have never tasted quite right in a tomato bruschetta. On another one yes but not tomato. So I started by sending Monica questions because she is the most Italian Italian person I know. She and I always talk about food, even now that she has moved to the other side of the world. Plus I've had her bruschetta and it's so good.
"Do you put anyting special in your tomato bruschetta? Do you use onion?" I asked.
"No, just rub the bread with garlic after you grill it," she responded.
Usually Monica and I can go back and forth about food a lot and I was a bit surprised at the brevity of her response. So I just said, "okay thanks" and left it. I wondered, were my Italian privileges being revoked now that we hadn't seen each other in almost a year.
Then a voice note came through. She apologised for her shortness, she had just woken up. I was relieved that my Italian consulting privilges were still intact!
I asked her about desseeing the tomatoes (no need), the size of dicing the tomatoes (not too small) and there was a long conversation about the bread (no ciabatta). And then we discussed the level of toasting the bread should have and the amount of garlic that you should rub on the bruschetta (it should be very garlicky). Because well our friendship involves two food obsessives!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have any long distance friendships? And do you have a favourite bruschetta topping?