HMC attended our first Friends of Brown County State Park meeting at the nature center. Info on the Friends can be found here. The Friends group has a monthly pitch in so we decided to make a nice Italian bruschetta (pronounced “brusketta”). This dish is a wonderful way to capture the flavors of ripe summer tomatoes, fresh garden basil, and garlic. We spiced it up a bit with some of HMC’s Imported Italian Black Truffle Oil and Salt.
I made this on the fly so had to hand prep everything, so no food processor, which I find better. Great with some fresh mozzarella or goat cheese and a crust french baguette.
Ingredients
- 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs-vine ripen prefered)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of Italian Black Truffle Oil
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Black Truffle Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 baguette French bread or similar crusty bread
- 1/2 cup olive oil
instructions
Prepare the tomatoes first. I prefer fresh tomatoes but some recipes call for parboil. It is up to you but I think the fresher the better! Why cook off the vitamins. I used a small cutting board and a plastic knife but a sharp knife works best. Some recommend removing the skin but I prefer keeping the skin on. Tomatoes are full of vitimins A and C, potassium, fiber, lycopene and beta-carotene. Lycopene is a cancer-fighting nutrient and to get the most of this nutrient, use skin of the tomato.
I used a small cutting board and a plastic knife but a sharp knife works best.
Chop and chop and chop!
Remove the stems and centers. Some juice and seeds are ok, but you do not want this to become salsa and distract from the truffle essence. Vine ripen tomatoes are often juicer than others so be advise there will be lots of the sweet tomato juice. You can always save this for a later dish.
Chop the basil to small slivers.
Add tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil and black truffle oil together and mix well.
Add salt and pepper to taste. I often keep the black truffle salt out for an additional kick to enhance each individuals palette.
Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Since I made this on the fly I did not cook the baguette and the juice from the tomatoes and bruschetta soaked in nicely. You can always coat the slices in olive oil and toast for 5-6 min. at 450 degrees until the tops are golden brown.
Makes 24 small slices. Serves 6-10 as an appetizer.
Since this has been an interesting week for HMC following the blazing loss of the stove, meal preparation seems more like an episode of “Dinner Impossible”. However, some interest dishes have emerged including Lion’s Mane bruschetta with a creamy red wine vinaigrette as well as grilled orange seseme chicken and shiitakes.
Lion’s Mane Bruschetta
