Tomato Bruschetta
Bruschetta started as peasant food — a way to use up bread that had gone a day stale, charred over coals to bring back its crunch and rubbed with garlic and whatever fresh olive oil the year's harvest had produced. The name comes from the Roman verb 'bruscare', to char over embers, and the dish predates the tomato entirely, since tomatoes only reached Italy after the colonization of the Americas; the tomato version everyone knows today is a relatively recent addition to an old technique. What separates a good bruschetta from a sad, soggy one is discipline: the tomatoes must be drained of their juice, and the mixture goes onto the bread only at the very last moment, never hours ahead. The olive oil isn't decoration — in a dish with so few ingredients, its quality is felt in every bite, so it's worth using the best you can afford.
Tomatoes drained of juice
Salt pulls out excess water so the bread stays crisp
Bread charred on the grill
Rubbed with raw garlic while still hot
Good olive oil
The single most important ingredient — use a decent one
Assembled just before serving
So the bread never has time to go soggy
Ingredients 4 servings
- 500 g ripe, meaty tomatoes (cocktail or San Marzano), finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to serve
- 2 garlic cloves, one whole for rubbing, one finely minced
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 10 fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons, plus whole ones to garnish
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
- 1 baguette or ciabatta loaf, sliced 1.5 cm thick
- Freshly ground black pepper
How to make it
- 1PREP THE TOMATOES: put the diced tomatoes in a sieve set over a bowl, sprinkle with the salt and let them sit 15-20 minutes to release their juice — the salt draws out the extra water so the bruschetta doesn't turn soggy under the tomatoes' weight.
- 2MIX THE TOPPING: tip the drained tomatoes into a clean bowl, add the minced garlic, the sliced basil, the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar if using; stir gently and let it macerate at room temperature while you prepare the bread.
- 3GRILL THE BREAD: heat a grill or a griddle pan over medium-high heat with no oil, char the bread slices 1-2 minutes per side, until golden-brown stripes appear and the crumb turns crisp.
- 4RUB WITH GARLIC: while the bread is still hot, rub each slice with the cut face of the whole garlic clove — the heat opens the bread's pores and flavours every bite without overpowering it.
- 5DRIZZLE WITH OIL: drizzle the warm slices with a thread of olive oil, so they don't soak up too much tomato juice later.
- 6ASSEMBLE AND SERVE: spoon the tomato mixture over each slice just before serving, using a slotted spoon to leave any remaining juice behind in the bowl, scatter over coarse salt, freshly ground pepper and whole basil leaves, then serve at once, while the bread is still crisp.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
