Description
One of my favorite summer meals is bruschetta. Of course, bruschetta can be made any time of the year. However, in New England, the best tomatoes of the year happen in the summer. On a hot day when I don’t feel like cooking, this is the perfect meal.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 7 medium vine ripe tomatoes
- 1 large roasted red pepper
- 1 medium orange pepper
- 1/2 shallot, finely diced (1 tablespoon or so)
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan (optional)
- 1 loaf of Italian bread
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash tomatoes.
- Use coring tool to remove tomato cores. If you don’t have a coring tool simply use a paring knife.
- Cut tomatoes in half.
- Use your fingers to remove the guts and seeds of the tomatoes. Have a bowl or garbage can nearby to put all the tomato seeds, etc.
- Slice the tomatoes into strips and then dice them into small pieces. Put in a large bowl.
- Add the white vinegar to the tomatoes, plus salt and pepper to taste. Give it a good stir. Let tomatoes soak in the vinegar, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes. Do your other prep while this is happening.
- Dice your orange pepper.
- Finely dice half of one shallot.
- Dice your one large roasted red peppers (I used jarred for this).
- Add your diced orange pepper, shallot and roasted red pepper to the bowl with the tomatoes. Give it a good mixing here.
- Add extra virgin olive oil and mix thoroughly again. Season with more salt and pepper if you think it needs it.
- Slice your Italian bread into ½ to one inch slices (approximately).
- Wash your basil. You won’t need a whole bunch for this recipe. Pick out a bunch of basil leaves. Stack them on top of each other, roll them up to create a cylinder shape. Now thinly slice from one end to the other.
- Heat more olive oil in a pan on low to medium heat. You want enough olive oil to coat the bottom of your pan.
- Wait until the oil is nice and hot, then add your bread to the oil and let it cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. Watch it carefully – do not leave it unattended. It can burn quickly if you’re not careful.
- When the bread is finished it’s time to assemble! Spoon the bruschetta onto the bread slices. Top with the basil and a pinch of shredded parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If you have leftover bruschetta mix, you can always use it on top of greens as well. Makes a delicious salad! Or just keep making crunchy bread a few days in a row and have it over and over again which is what I usually do!