With the onset of summer, lunch becomes difficult. Gone are the days of toasted sandwiches, leftover soup or the hearty offerings from the night before. It’s suddenly all about finding something light and fresh. Smoothies are a great option (Berry or Tropical are equally amazing), but sometimes you want something more. Enter bruschetta.
Bruschetta is all about quality bread; lovely ripe tomatoes; bocconcini; and a touch of garlic, olive oil and basil. Light and fresh, with a hint of sandwich.
The hardest part of bruschetta is sourcing the bread. Unfortunately the world (our local neighbourhood) abounds with spongy white offerings, that come in all shapes and sizes, with names they really don’t deserve. We have one store that stocks bread you would want to use, and if they sell out before you get there, then it’s back to the lunch dilemma drawing board. What you need is a good solid loaf. If you find something called a ciabatta and its springs back at your touch, save your money and keep looking. I have serious bread envy for all those lucky enough to be able to buy real bread in their local neighbourhood.
What’s great about bruschetta is it’s perfect for assembly line preparation. All those who want to eat it help make it. One toasts the bread; one slices the tomatoes and bocconcini; and one layers the toppings. Perfect. And if there’s more than 3 of you, person 4 gets the drinks. Or more realistically, one person does it all…Enjoy!
- ciabbatta or similar
- 2 - 3 nice ripe tomatoes, sliced
- bocconcini, sliced
- 1 small bunch fresh basil , leaves picked
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- Cut the bread into 1cm thick slices and toast it.
- Rub lightly with a cut clove of garlic, then using a pastry brush lightly coat the bread with extra virgin olive oil.
- Top with a layer of tomato slices and season with a light sprinkling of salt.
- Add the bocconcini, torn basil leaves and ground pepper.
- Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on the top.
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