Cookin' & Cussin'

Cheesy Oven Bruschetta

Or “Salsa Bread” as Chris lovingly refers to it…..eyerolllllll.

The first time Chris & I experienced Bruschetta together was in Asheville, North Carolina in 2017 – which is one of our top 5 favorite places to go together :) We visited Urban Orchard & were hankering for a snack. They had Bruschetta on the menu – seemed legit. Not a super-huge portion, perfect amount of bread for a day of drinking & healthy-ish. We ordered that, loved it & then (because I’m an asshole) I decided I could make it even better at home.

Bruscare = Bruschetta

I’m sure we all have our own ideas of what Bruschetta is & I’m sure we all have ideas on how to properly pronounce it (shit, thanks, Giada DeLaurentis) but there are actually SO many small adaptations that I’ve noticed over the years – of course, the most obvious is that restaurants all have their different takes. Lucky for you, my recipe does it right. But what I continue to notice is the use of fresh tomatoes VS. canned tomatoes…..oh yes. I’ve seen them both. Let me just take this opportunity to say, that canned tomatoes are a fucking DISGRACE to what is supposed to be a fresh, cold Antipasto Italian appetizer. Canned tomatoes could never come close to taste or texture of a fresh tomato. AND furthermore, in reality, a chopper is doing all the heavy lifting for this recipe so I’d better not ever hear of anyone disrespecting my non-Italian self by using CANNED TOMATOES. *end rant* I’ve also seen other recipes calling themselves “Bruschetta” with none of the original Italian ingredients….see below for that appalling fuckery.

Beware of Imposters

Some restaurants even serve “dessert Bruschetta” which makes me want to gag – I have the very vivid thought of picking up a glass of water, drinking it, and that shit is Sprite – trickery. You feel me? Because Bruschetta is forever marked as savory to me, it could never be interchangeable with goat cheese, cherries, honey or any other shit they try to sell you on.

MOVING ON.

Bruschetta can, however, have other welcomed tweaks to it such as : toasty, long, baguette slices of French bread VS. small, crunchy, bite-size pieces of crostini bread. The choice is ultimately yours. I’ve also seen Bruschetta with the absence of mozzarella cheese which seems SO damn fraudulent given most Italian food has the presence of some sort of cheese, but lucky for you, my recipe includes melty, bubbly mozzarella cheese. The types of tomatoes used may also vary. I tend to use grape tomatoes because they are easy to find, sweet, always in season, & less liquid. Yellow grape cherry tomatoes are also a great substitution & bring such a lovely pop of color! I would like to try different colored heirloom tomatoes someday, but today ain’t it.

Ingredients & Gadgets

•Food processor / chopper

•4-6 slices thick French bread

•8-12 slices fresh mozzarella

•1 pint grape tomatoes

•2 crushed cloves garlic

•1/2 medium red onion

•Litehouse dried basil, 2 TBS

•drizzle of olive oil, 1 TBS

•drizzle balsamic vinegar, 1 TSP

•drizzle balsamic glaze (garnish)

•pinch of S & P (to taste)

•10-12 fresh basil leaves (garnish)

Instructions

•preheat oven to 350°

•In a food processor, finely chop tomatoes, garlic & red onion — drizzle in olive oil — combine.

•empty contents into a bowl, sprinkle S & P, add dried basil, drizzle balsamic vinegar — taste, cover & set aside in the fridge for 1 hour.

•lightly brush olive oil on both sides of French bread — bake in the oven for 7 minutes per side.

•once bread is browned & slightly crunchy, flip over & place 2 pieces of fresh mozzarella —

•BROIL 2-3 minutes (WATCH THAT SHIT CAREFULLY)

•your bruschetta mixture might be watery, strain out the extra water with a spoon so your oven-fresh, crunchy bread won’t get soggy!

•once cheese is melty & bubbly, remove from oven & top with bruschetta mixture, drizzle balsamic glaze, top with shredded fresh basil :)

Perfecto!

Bruschetta is indeed an appetizer – but we usually serve it as a side. It is a GREAT accompaniment to a salad or to a zoodle-pasta dish! It is hearty but not heavy – a delicious bite sure to please any palate at any meal! I think this would be a perfect appetizer to serve in stages – maybe cheese & meats, cheese & fruits, cheese & nuts (see where I’m going with this?) and Bruschetta, the star of the damn show!

Hope you figure out your own way to weave this fantastic plate into your life! If you loved it, let me know – if you hated it, then same.