Balsamic Bruschetta

My NOLA-inspired rolls got rather dense overnight and toasting them seemed the best way to use them for anything else. Bruschetta, it is!


I went for a pretty standard bruschetta--tomatoes, basil and garlic. Here's today's cast.


I really like using Roma tomatoes for salads or other dishes where the dish is going to rest in the fridge before serving. These Romas were a bit big so I used less than the 8 the recipe called for. I also decided to remove the seeds to further prevent the soggies.


I stacked the basil leaves.


Then rolled them into a tight cigar shape.


Thin slices with a sharp knife and a beautiful chiffonade.


The tomatoes and basil together are so beautiful.


Chopped garlic and shredded Parmesan cheese was tossed in and I was tempted to just eat it as is.


But, seeing as this is a "balsamic" bruschetta, it felt silly to stop before it was balsamified. A good balsamic was mixed with olive oil, black pepper and kosher salt.


Everything got tossed together and sat in the fridge awaiting dinnertime. The recipe recommended refrigeration for 1-2 hours; mine sat for considerably longer than that. I really like when tomatoes are marinated this way--not only do they taste really good, they also seem to firm up a bit.


I split the rolls, buttered them and toasted them at 400F for about 15 minutes. They were lovely topped with the tomato mixture!

Here's the promised link:

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