This word is pronounced broos-KAY-tah, not broo-SHET-tuh. Bruschetta has the same root as the word abbrustolito which means toasted. This is an easy and tasty appetizer or mid-afternoon snack. Sometimes we even eat it for lunch. Ideally you would toast the bread on a grill, but I’ve found that it’s too easy for me to burn it that way, so I use the oven (and I still manage to burn them a little on the edges).
1 loaf of Italian bread, sliced into 1/2-inch slices (but homemade pane casereccio is much better)
6 whole cloves garlic, peeled
Extra-virgin olive oil
Optional Toppings
· Traditional Tomato (mixture of 1cm-cubed tomatoes, quality extra-virgin olive oil, basil, and salt – ideally marinated for an hour) - this is what we usually use
· Insalata Caprese (same but also with chopped mozzarella in the mixture)
· Marinated sliced roasted peppers
· Pesto (basil or swiss chard)
1. Preheat oven to broil.
2. Place Italian bread slices on a cook sheet on the middle rack of oven. The broiler heats from above, so there is no point in trying to toast both sides at the same time.
3. Toast slices on both sides. You'll need to watch them closely! Each side is usually done in two minutes or less, and I always seem to burn them slightly around the edges (see below).
4. Remove and gently rub garlic on one side as soon as you can handle them. If you like a lot of garlic, do the same to the other side (we don't). If you’re planning to serve with a garlicky topping, such as a pesto, consider toning this down!
5. Drizzle a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil on tops, even if you're using the tomato mixture with olive oil.
7. Transfer slices to a platter. We typically serve the bruschetta plain with at least one topping offered on the side. However, we often just make it with the traditional tomato, olive oil, salt, and basil. Classic.
Some of these are over-toasted on the edges, but I don't mind a little slight burn (it tastes awesome):
Here are the cut bread slices, in this case, our homemade pane casereccio. Note that this is small part of a full loaf and required only one clove of garlic:
Traditional topping made from tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and basil, ideally marinated for an hour:
Toasted on both sides (yes, some of these are over-toasted, but trust me, they are still really good), then we rub garlic on one side and drizzle a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil on top. Then put the topping on it (see first photo):
