Some lightly seasoned tomatoes are all you need to make a complete meal out of good bread and olive oil. Can’t go wrong with a classic bruschetta!

Time: 2/5
Doesn’t take that long to toast some bread

Effort: 2/5
Not counting making friends that bring you olive oil from Europe

Bread and Circuses

This whole recipe is basically an excuse for me to enjoy some olive oil on bread. One of the cool things about having cool friends is that they go to cool places and bring back cool ingredients for me to cook with, and this time I was blessed with some extra virgin olive oil all the way from Portugal.

The last time this happened, a buddy of mine brought me a gift of some goulash cream from Hungary. That which went towards making some beef goulash, because of course. But olive oil is a much more open question than goulash cream, so it took me a while to decide what to do with it.

I wanted to do something to compliment the olive oil, to get the most of it. But I didn’t want to do so much that it gets lost in the noise. In the end, I settled on making some bruschetta – the freshness of tomatoes and a bit of raw garlic rubbed onto the toast might be just what it needs to go above and beyond.

The keys to success for this operation, besides getting good olive oil and bread, are getting good tomatoes. If you don’t have access to good fresh big tomatoes, I find cherry tomatoes to be a decent substitute with reliable quality.

It’s also worth keeping a small pot of fresh basil growing on your windowsill, or in my case on top of the AC unit outside my window. Fresh herbs are super expensive, and if you manage to grow them yourself from the clippings you save from the supermarket, they’ll easily pay for themselves after two or three recipes. Just like growing your own spring onions!

Posts since the last recipe that was actually served with rice: 3

Dramatis Personae

Served 2.

Sourdough – 2 thick slices

Lightly toasted for a bit of crunch, but not so much that it loses its chew. I used to have a bad habit of over-toasting my bread, and it cost me a lot in terms of texture. Pull it out of the oven or toaster early, because the bread continues to toast and dry out from the residual heat.

Besides using good bread and browning it conservatively, the other trick is to salt the bread directly. It makes a big difference, especially once the olive oil is in the picture. If you need convincing, try a bite of oil and bread both with and without salt.

Some say to freeze any unused bread to keep them from going stale or mouldy. I want to try that trick someday, but not this time – I have something planned for the bread tomorrow.

Garlic – 1 large clove

Peel it without smashing it, by cutting off both ends. You want the clove to remain whole, so you can sandpaper it onto the toast by rubbing it against the rough surface of the bread. A large clove makes it easier to hold on to.

This way, the raw garlic becomes a fine paste that gives the bread an aromatic accent that goes great with the olive oil. I was never bothered by garlic breath, and neither was my date because the bruschetta was so good. So there’s that.

Tomatoes – 2 medium

I’m removing the seeds and the gel-like cores before slicing and dicing, because I don’t want any additional moisture watering down the flavour. The cores get saved for a soup down the line. This isn’t as much of an issue if you use cherry tomatoes.

2 tomatoes will probably be more than you can fit on two pieces of bread, but it never hurts to make more of the tomato salad topping than you need. You can always serve the extra with another meal, and having more vegetables is usually a good idea.

Basil – about 10 leaves

The more the merrier, within reason. This is a classic flavour to go with tomatoes, and it’s worth splurging on the fresh herbs – especially if you save some of the clippings to grow yourself. I’ve used my pot of basil for two or three times, and it’s already paid for itself.

Olive oil – a few tablespoons

Recipes like these where the oil doesn’t get heated is where you can use the good stuff without worrying about cooking off the fruity, kind of spicy flavour of real good extra virgin olive oil.

Be generous, it’s a major source of flavour and there aren’t many calories in the tomatoes so you have plenty of nutritional space to play around with. And just like the salt, I like to oil the bread specifically, in addition to dressing the tomatoes.

Balsamic vinegar – one teaspoon

Here for sweetness and a bit of acidity, but only just enough of it to be able to barely taste it in the tomatoes. I want it here to balance the richness of the oil, not to cover it up. Substitute it with any acid, plus a pinch of sugar.

Salt and pepper – to taste

Crunchy salt if you have it, and grind your pepper fresh. When the list of ingredients is so short, every little detail matters – very often, the best meals are not made with super obscure ingredients or complicated techniques, but rather a series of simple things done well.

Executive summary

1. Clean and quarter the tomatoes. Cut out the core, seeds and gel. Finely dice. 
2. Wash and slice basil leaves into tiny ribbons.
3. Mix tomatoes in salt, pepper, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Refrigerate while preparing the other ingredients.
4. Gently toast the bread (for example, 3 minutes at 150C/300F in the oven).
5. Remove bread from the heat. Once cool enough to handle, rub the peeled garlic clove against one surface of each piece.
6. Drizzle the bread with oil, sprinkle it with salt, then top with the tomato mixture and serve.

Play by Play

Last things first. Bread goes into a low oven, with the timer set very conservatively. Especially if you’re going to leave the toast inside, you don’t want it to dry out in the residual heat.

Roll the basil leaves up, and cut into ribbons.

Tomatoes cored and deseeded, but the guts can go into a soup or broth later so I’m saving it.

Dress the potatoes with the herb, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust! It’s on you to make it taste the way you like.

I’m ready to plate, so I brought out the bread and rubbed it with the garlic clove. The rough surface of the toast will turn the clove of garlic into a thin layer of garlic paste that stays on the bread. Notice how the clove was basically half gone – you want to start with a big clove to make this step easier.

Here’s the trick that I think makes the biggest difference: oil and salt the bread before you top it. Just like a sauté or a stir fry, seasoning in layers is the way to go.

Tomatoes go on top, with plenty to spare for the next meal. I had some basil in reserve that I used to garnish the bruschetta.

Isn’t she a beauty? Good food for a good mood. Buon appetito!

A picture of the cross section. Check out how some of the dressing for the tomatoes have soaked into the bread, but it doesn’t spill juice everywhere. That’s because the seeds and the gel weren’t there to water things down.

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