The past few days, while our friend Nick was visiting, we ate meat every day: lots of barbecue, goulash and roast pork. While I thoroughly enjoyed it, I must admit I'm not used to such a diet (I do eat meat, but I've always been more of a veggie person). I think the next few days we'll mostly eat fruit and veg and try to cleanse our bodies of all the fat and salt we ate last week.
Well, one of my favorite summer meals is bruschetta (although I make them in the winter as well, as appetizers or quick snacks).When I got a basket of fresh cherry tomatoes from my sister's garden, I just knew I had to make some. Honestly, I've never tasted tomatoes like these! Yes, cherry tomatoes generally tend to be sweeter than regular ones, but these are incredibly sweet and fruity.
Bruschetta can be made with various toppings, but I prefer them simple - with tomatoes, olives, herbs and cheese. They have a real summery feel to them, and while I'm not mad about seaside holidays, these bruschetta really make me want to go to the Mediterranean and enjoy the sea and the cuisine.
I made today's bruschetta with whole-wheat toast, although a baguette or any other kind of bread will work just as well. Also, the quantities and ratio of tomatoes and olives can be altered to taste. It would be best to make them with fresh herbs, but I didn't have any today, so I used dried which are also okay.
Ingredients
5 pieces of whole-wheat toast
1 cup cherry tomatoes
5 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olives - halved
1 tbsp chopped basil (thyme and oregano are also great)
olive oil
salt, pepper
grated cheese
Toast the bread (in the toaster or the oven), and when it's done rub each piece with a clove of garlic. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.
In a bowl combine the tomatoes (whole or halved if you're using cherry tomatoes, and diced if you're using regular ones), olives and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and coat with olive oil.
Top the toast with the tomato/olive mix and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Bake in a preheated oven for 5-10 minutes (depending on how you like your cheese).
5 comments:
This looks fabulous!
I make bruschetta almost every week (mmm!), but I've never tried it with olives. Sounds delish!
Thanks for the great variation :)
I've never had bruschetta with olives either. They look gorgeous!
Well olives and tomatoes just go really well, so I often combine them.
That looks like a hearty and tasty bruschetta!
Ummmmm....You and I think alike in the flavor category. Those baby tomatoes remind me of the ones i used to eat when I lived in northern Italy. They're called pomodorini, which literally means baby tomatoes. I like the idea of grated cheese, but cannot help but recommend a nice pecorino sardo to be grated on top. Also, garlic stuffed jumbo olives dices would be slammin' in this dish, not to mention a very light dash of Aceto Basilico di Modena. ps., for those that don't know, bruschetta should be pronounced brew-sKHET-ah :)
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