Monday, September 13, 2010

Garden Tomato Bruschetta



You know that scene in Julie & Julia in which Julie cooks up the most gorgeous looking tomato basil bruschetta? Every time I watch that movie, among all the dishes that make my mouth water, that one tops them all. I've waited all summer for our tomatoes to ripen so we could make it.

Lo, and behold, it's harvest time:
And my husband, bless his heart, brought some amazing sourdough bread home from one of his latest business trips (thanks, San Fran airport!) so he could make me the bruschetta of my dreams. Since I bet a lot of you are drowning in garden tomatoes like we are right now, I thought you'd love Taylor's instructions:

Toss in a bowl:
Diced tomatoes (2 medium or 1 large tomato)
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Clove garlic (run through garlic press or finely minced)
10 large basil leaves, cut in a chiffonade (stack the leaves, cut ribbons)
salt and pepper to taste (make sure to add enough salt!)

Cut good bread (GOOD bread--try something from a good bakery, something Artisan--a nice sourdough or bagette) into inch-thick slices.
Heat a pan up to medium temp (the heavier the pan the better--cast iron=optimal).
Heavily coat the pan with olive oil (like we are frying this bread--use lots of oil!)
Put the bread in, cook it until nicely browned (about the color of light honey), then flip and brown the other side. (Make sure there is enough oil in the pan to get the other side covered in oil when you flip it. It's a lot of oil people, and it's OK. Olive oil is good fat;)
Sprinkle some coarse salt on the bread, then add the topping.

Die of happiness.

4 comments:

Laura said...

Mmm. That looks good. I don't think I have any basil in my kitchen right now though.

If you haven't tried Artisan Bread in 5 minutes. I highly recommended. Good homemade bread all the time. :)

Carrie said...

I wanted bruschetta after J&J too! Had a hankering for it that I had to satisfy... funny that you had the same reaction.

You should try a little balsalmic vinegar in it, AMAZING. I always use the recipe from Simplyrecipes.com. Its my absolute fav.

Danielle said...

ha! I made this immediately after watching that movie. And bought Julie Child's cookbook too.

Nicole said...

Those are the most beautiful tomatos ever! So jealous. My tomato garden was a little sad this year. Taste yummy but just not much yield and are super small. Bookmarking this for next summer!