Tomato and basil bruschette
Still-warm toasted country bread, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with uncooked olive oil, topped with ripe tomatoes seasoned ahead just long enough to flavour the bread without making it soggy.
Ingredients for two
| 160 g | Bread (baguette or country loaf) 4 slices of pareve country bread, 1.5 cm thick (40 g each, 2 per person); never baguette: the slices need a broad, dense crumb |
| 250 g | Tomatoes, vine or round 2 very ripe vine or Roma tomatoes (125 g each), at room temperature, never straight from the fridge; use beefsteak tomatoes in season |
| 5 g | Garlic 1 clove, halved, for rubbing the bread |
| 8 g | Fresh basil about 10 leaves |
| 35 g | Extra virgin olive oil 3.5 tbsp: 2 for the bread and 1.5 for the tomatoes |
| 2 g | Fine salt 1/3 tsp |
| 0.5 g | Black peppercorns 2–3 turns of the pepper mill per bowl |
Method
- Wash the tomatoes, remove the stalks and quarter. Push out the watery centres and seeds with your thumb, then cut the flesh into 8 mm dice. Put in a bowl with 2 g salt, the pepper and half the basil, torn by hand. Rest for 10 minutes: a little juice should collect at the bottom, and the tomatoes will take on the basil's fragrance.
- Meanwhile, heat a 28 cm griddle pan over a medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Lay the four bread slices in a single layer in the dry pan and toast for 2–3 minutes per side, or for 4 minutes under a preheated grill, turning halfway through. The surface should be golden and crisp, with the centre still tender. Transfer to a wire rack.
- Halve the garlic clove and rub the cut sides firmly over the whole upper surface of each hot slice, making 3–4 passes per slice; the clove will wear down against the crust, which is normal. For a subtler garlic flavour, rub just once. Immediately drizzle each slice with 5 g oil, half a tablespoon, 20 g in total, and allow 30 seconds for it to soak into the crumb.
- Lift the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon, leaving the juice behind. Transfer to a clean bowl and mix with 1 tbsp oil (10 g). Divide between the four slices, add the remaining basil and finish with the last drizzle of oil (5 g). Serve within 2 minutes so the crust stays crisp.
On your plate
Recipe
389 kcal · protein 7 g · carbs 44 g · fat 19 g
Quantities per person
- 80 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
- 125 g Tomatoes, vine or round
- 2.5 g Garlic
- 4 g Fresh basil
- 17.5 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 g Fine salt
- 0.25 g Black peppercorns
Cooking tips
Top the bread at the last moment; prepare the bread and tomatoes separately. Ripe tomatoes make the dish, so do not mask their flavour with balsamic glaze. Use tomatoes at room temperature, never straight from the fridge; in winter, halved cherry tomatoes are a sweeter choice. With less-than-perfect tomatoes, add a pinch of dried oregano to the bowl for a Roman version. Use the remaining garlic clove to flavour another sauce, and the tomato juice, with a little oil, to dress a green salad the next day.
Bruschetta al pomodoro, an antipasto from Tuscany and central Italy: garlic-rubbed toast, ripe tomato, basil and olive oil.
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