Bruschetta

Bruschetta, pronounced bru-sket-ta is a wonderful mouthful of joy. While Americans have turned these yummy little toasts upside down, calling almost any type of topping bruschetta, it's the still the original tomato topping that rocks my world. When making this appetizer you want to use the freshest ingredients possible. That means using ripe tomatoes, fresh garlic and fresh basil leaves.


Ingredients:
1 French Baguette
1 lb vine ripened tomatoes
a few cloves garlic
salt and peper
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Make the bruschetta a day ahead of time so that the flavors have time to meld.
Cut each of the tomatoes in half and gently squeeze them over a bowl to remove most of the seeds. This will prevent it from becoming soupy. Finely dice the tomatoes and put them into a bowl.

Take a clove of garlic and give it a good smash, run your knife though it to mince it some. Sprinkle the garlic with a pinch of coarse salt, then take the side of your knife and mush the garlic by pushing down and pulling it across the garlic. This will make it into garlic paste. You'll have to do this process a few times until the paste forms. This allows the garlic to mix in well and helps to mellow the flavor some. Once you have the past, add it into the tomatoes.


Take about 10 basil leaves and stack them on top of each other, then roll them tightly length-wise and thinly slice the basil into ribbons.







Add it into the tomatoes and garlic and season with some pepper. Add in a just a splash of balsamic vinegar, no more then a teaspoon, and a drizzle of olive of oil. Stir and give a taste. Add more salt, pepper or basil to your tastes. I go kind of light on the basil because I didn't want it to overpower the rest of the flavors.
To prepare the toasts, you want to slice the baguette on an extreme bias. This gives the bread more surface area and actually makes it easier to bite into and eat. Place the bread on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place into a preheated 350 oven for about 10 mins. You want to toasts to be golden and crispy. 10 mins is just an extreme approximate and will vary greatly depending on your oven. While the toasts are getting toasty, slice the root end off of a large clove of garlic. This should let you be able to peel the rest of the skin off the garlic clove, keeping it whole. When your toasts are done and still hot, rub the cut side of the garlic all over it. and the garlic will melt into the toast. Top with about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of the bruschetta and then just a little sprinkle of fresh Parmesan cheese. If I was Rachel Ray, here is where I would say Yum-o!!

H A P P Y  C O O K I N G !!