Italian Bruschetta on Sourdough Crostini

Star Ingredients

• Tomatoes – coarsely chopped and seeds removed. I prefer Roma or heirloom tomatoes because they have fewer seeds and are a little more meaty. But if you can’t find any, any tomato will do.
• Fresh herbs – this recipe uses basil and oregano. You can also use some fresh parsley if you like. Basil is the most important herb so if you don’t have the others, just add a little more basil to taste.
• Crusty baguette or bread – the essential crusty base for your bruschetta. I like to use sourdough bread because it has so much flavour, but bakery breads vs commercial sliced bread is an absolute must.

Step-By-Step Made Simple

• Start by chopping some red onion, fresh basil and oregano. I like my herbs finely chopped, but if you prefer, you can also chiffonade herbs to create slivers instead.

2. Then slice the tomatoes into quarters and remove the inside pulp. Continue to finely slice the tomatoes into smaller pieces. It is important to remove the inside pulp because it is very watery and a little slimy, which will make the bruschetta too wet. A little won’t hurt, but too much will result in soggy toasts.

3. Then, to a large bowl, add chopped tomatoes, red onion, chopped fresh basil and oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix to combine.

4. Next, prepare the crostini. The foundation to carry the tomato goodness into your belly. For this recipe, I chose to use a sourdough bread, which I first sliced to about a 1/2″ thickness and then sliced each piece into 3 pieces on a diagonal to make smaller pieces of bread.
5. In a small bowl, add olive oil and minced garlic and mix. Use a basting brush to brush the olive oil and garlic mixture generously over the top of each piece of bread. Bake at 400º F for 10 minutes or until browned and crispy on the outside.

The crostini can be made ahead of time as can the bruschetta mix just don’t assemble them until it is time to serve. With time the juices from the tomato basil bruschetta will soak into the bread and the bread will loose it’s crispy crunch.

Leftovers?

It’s very unlikely you’ll have any leftovers, but if you do, I’ll be honest, this recipe doesn’t hold up well. Over time, the tomatoes make the bread soggy and unappetizing.

If you really must save what’s left, here’s the trick: disassemble everything. Scrape the bruschetta mix off the crostini and store it in the fridge to eat over the next day or two. The bread itself needs to go, since the tomato liquid will have already softened it beyond saving. When it’s just for me, I’ll either make a fresh batch of crostini or pile the bruschetta mix onto crackers or toast instead.