Recipe: Bruschetta
A classic antipasto italiano--Italian Appetizer--is bruschetta, pronounced with a short "u" as in "brush" and a hard "ch" sound like a "k" as in "basket". Many Americans incorrectly use a long "u" and a soft "shh" sound, and while this is acceptable in most English speaking countries, I like to use the authentic Italian version, complete with rolling R's and gusto.
Now that we've got the pronunciation stuff out of the way, let's move on to the dish itself. I recently hosted another birthday dinner for friends Joy, Joanna, Heari, and Teresa. Their birthdays stretched way back from February and into the future to May; everyone's lives had just been too busy for us to coordinate dates. But finally, during a recent Saturday evening, we found ourselves seated around my farmhouse table sharing a meal together.
I decided to go with A Night in Tuscany as the theme since they all enjoy those ever-so-reputedly-bad-for-you carbs. For the first course of the four-course meal, I made this classic bruschetta dish. It turned out yummy; the red onion added a sweet yet pungent kick to each bite. I used Genovese basil fresh from our garden and a saltier, French butter on the baguette slices before baking. The creamy richness of the butter (which my dad bought for us from a Vietnamese grocery store) added an extra oomph to the bruschetta. Perfection in every bite. If the Blind can Cook it, so can you.
Recipe: Bruschetta
Summary: Original recipe courtesy of my friend Karen
Ingredients
- 4 roma tomatoes, diced & strained
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
- minced garlic (optional)
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- balsamic vinegar to taste
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 baguette, sliced into 3/4" slices
- melted butter
- 1/8 c. grated parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- In a med. bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, and basil. Add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Toss well and set aside.
- Meanwhile, spread butter on each baguette slice. Bake at approx. 350 degrees for 3 to 5 min. or until butter is melted and bread is lightly toasted.
- Top with tomato onion mixture. Add parmesan cheese on top if desired.
Variations
You can add minced fresh garlic to the tomato and onion mixture if desired. Italian food is known for the garlic, after all.
Cooking time (duration): 20
Diet type: Vegetarian
Meal type: hors d'oerves
Culinary tradition: Italian
Microformatting by hRecipe.