Bruschetta

Have you ever fallen completely in love with an ingredient? It caught your eye, and didn’t let go? No?

Me neither.

Until I came across these beauties. It was love at first sight.

I have fallen head over heels in love with these stunning tomatoes. Ever since I bought them, I have been staring at them, just because they were such a big difference than the normal (slightly boring) red tomatoes that I always buy. And because they are so absolutely gorgeous.

But seriously, just look at them. Aren’t they beautiful? Those colours. Those shapes. And the taste. Oh my.

Even more fascinating on the inside!

So, fate decided that I should use these tomatoes on the day that one of my favourite football teams was playing in the World Cup. Italy. I know, I know. I’m not Italian. Not even a bit. But don’t rub it in my face, please? Anyhow, of course I am ridiculously happy that my actual country team is through to the next round! Hurray! Go The Netherlands!! But I still need to show my love and support to the Italian team, just because (and no, not because all players are pretty darn hot which is a bonus though).

Straying off topic.

Back to the tomatoes. I had just bought them, and had the crushing need to use them immediately and show them to you guys. However, I did not want them to go to anonymity in a dish which happened to also have tomatoes in it. Oh no. These tomatoes should have the leading role, be the star player, be that one thing this dish was revolving around.

What better way to achieve this than by making the extremely flavourful and simple dish called Bruschetta. To clarify, the name for the dish is really for the whole dish. So the bread and the tomato salad included. I have read a couple of articles which state that the tomato salad only is called bruschetta. It’s not.

Bruschetta is just about the easiest recipe in the world. You can prepare it in the morning, or even a day ahead. Even better, as all the flavours will be mixed together, and will create a insanely tasteful dish.

I would suggest to serve it tonight in support of La Forza Azzurri! I know I’ll be doing so, and hoping and praying they will also make it through!

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Bruschetta

Servings: 4
Time: 1,5 hr
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

500 (17 oz) grams of tomatoes (normally I use plum or Roma tomatoes, which are quite firm yet very tasty)
Salt and pepper
15 (o.5 oz)grams of fresh basil
3 garlic cloves (less or more, according to your own taste)
Olive oil
Ciabatta

Used kitchen appliances

Oven
Colander

Preparation

De-seed the tomatoes, and finely chop them. For me the easiest way to do this is by halving the tomatoes, scooping the seeds out with a spoon, and then slicing the tomatoes both horizontally and vertically (brunoise).
Place the chopped tomatoes in a colander, and pour over salt. The salt will soak up the overload of water that’s in the tomatoes, so the flavour will be more concentrated. Leave to rest in the sink or with a bowl placed under the colander, for 30 minutes.
Transfer the tomatoes to a mixing bowl. Finely chop 2 garlic cloves and the basil and add to the tomatoes. Pour in just enough olive oil to coat the tomato salad. If you prefer, you can always add more or less garlic, basil and oil. It’s really dependent on your own particular taste. I pour in more olive oil than I probably should, same for the garlic. Stir it all together, and season to taste. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 200C or 400F. Slice 8 medium thick slices of the ciabatta. Pour over a bit of olive oil, so they’ll get a beautiful yellow-brown crust. Grill them in the oven for about 4 minutes or until slightly crunchy.
With the remaining garlic clove, rub the ciabatta slices so the garlic flavour can integrate into the bread. Top it off with the tomato salad.