Tomato Bruschetta

Italian flavour, whether it is in food or music, always entices me. Bruschetta is a classic Italian appetizer (pronounced [brus'ket.ta] in Italian); slice of fresh country bread toasted with a nice rub of fresh garlic and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. There are lots of variations to bruschetta. A traditional bruschetta topping is a blend of fresh tomatoes and herbs and garlic with a bit of olive oil. This is a simple & colourful, easy to prepare appetizer as well as an afternoon snack too.

Ingredients (Approx.)

• ½ loaf French bread
• 2 red tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped + 1 whole clove
• ¼ cup fresh basil chiffonades
• 1 tbsp green spring onion chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp + 3tbsp Olive Oil
• A pinch of freshly ground pepper
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the tomatoes and squeeze out the juice and seeds from it and finely dice them. Mix the tomatoes, garlic, basil chiffonades and spring onion and toss with 1½ tbsp olive oil and ground pepper and salt and blend well and leave it in room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour to let all the flavours combine well.
2. Preheat oven to 400 F . Slice the bread diagonally with around ½ inch thickness and brush with olive oil and toast each side for around 2 mins or until the bread turns slightly golden.
3. Cut the garlic clove in half and lightly rub garlic onto the toasted bread and spoon the mixture on the slices and serve immediately. The bread will get soggy if it is kept too long, so heap the topping just before serving. Serve with a glass of red wine and sorriso* :)

This is my entry for JFI - Tomato and thanks RP for hosting this month's JFI.

*Sorriso is Italian for smile :)

Luv
Shn