This homemade bruschetta is a wonderful celebration of tomatoes with hints of basil and garlic. It’s the perfect appetizer not just for its flavor, but because it doesn’t take much effort to make!
THE INGREDIENTS:
Roma Tomatoes: Roma tomatoes are a great choice for making bruschetta. Tomatoes are the star of this appetizer, so it’s important to have tomatoes that are firmer in texture to avoid a mushy topping on your bread. Roma tomatoes are not only firmer in texture, but they’re less seedy-meaning we can use most of the tomato in this recipe! Other kinds of tomatoes, such as beefsteak, are less firm and have more seeds that would need to be scooped out.
Garlic: A little garlic goes a long way when it’s raw! It may not seem like we have added a ton of garlic to this recipe, but as the bruschetta marinates, there is plenty of garlic flavor in the final product. Although we recommend using fresh garlic for the most flavor, it’s ok if the spice cabinet is your only tool here. If you are using garlic powder, we’d recommend reaching for ½ tsp of garlic powder.
Basil: Basil may be a background ingredient, but its prominent but not overpowering flavor is necessary for a successful bruschetta. We prefer using fresh herbs in this recipe because of its simple and short ingredient list. The less ingredients you have in a recipe, the more important it is you use the best and freshest ingredients! If you don’t have fresh basil on hand, reach for 1 tsp of dried basil. It still gets the job done well!
Olive Oil: Olive oil adds a bit of fat and flavor-as well as helping to ensure an even marinade. We do not recommend skipping it in this recipe! Although we normally reach for vegetable oil as our oil of choice, this is a time where you really should get olive oil. Olive oil comes in different taste intensities-the higher the intensity, the more olive oil flavor in your bruschetta. We recommend an olive oil that is on the higher half of the intensity scale in order to ensure plenty of flavor. Still, we’ve also made this with the lightest intensity olive oil we could find. Just use what you have on hand! Finally, the oil also helps absorb our garlic and basil flavor. Since the olive oil evenly coats our bruschetta, that means we are getting an even coating of flavor.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Although many classic bruschetta recipes don’t have vinegar, we believe it is a great addition for even more flavor. Apple cider vinegar specifically gives both extra tang and sweetness-bring a further depth of flavor to our bruschetta recipe that sets it above the rest. If you don’t have apple cider vinegar on hand, we’d go for rice vinegar. Adjust the amount of vinegar to taste.
Salt: Salt tends to boost meals from “blah” to “wow!”, but that doesn’t mean you should go too heavy handed. Since this is supposed to be a light topping, it can get salty fast. Stick to ½ tsp to ensure flavor without going overboard. However, you can always adjust to your own tastes.
Black Pepper: A little bit of black pepper goes a long way in this recipe. We like to have it lightly in the background, not as a peppery, zingy star. As always, adjust to your own tastes.
Bread: You can sure eat this topping with a spoon, but bruschetta is usually bread with a tomato topping! We say crusty bread works great here-that crisp crust and a soft topping are just the ultimate combination. You can use whole wheat, white, or other kinds of bread-just make sure the flavor of the bread doesn’t clash with the tomatoes!
KEY INFORMATION:
How Do You Make the Best Bruschetta? The best bruschetta is firm (but not under-ripe) and flavorful. To make the best bruschetta, it is important to drain your tomatoes! When you slice your tomatoes, they begin to release liquid that can make your bruschetta soggy. By letting the tomatoes sit with a bit of salt and then draining them after 30 minutes, you get most of the liquid out of the way and ensure the best texture. For the best flavor, you’ll want to add garlic, basil, salt, black pepper, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil. A little of each of these ingredients goes a long way!
What Goes With Bruschetta? Bruschetta is an appetizer consisting of a crusty bread topped with a tomato mixture. If you want to elevate your bruschetta, consider topping it with cheese (parmesan, mozzarella, ricotta or goat cheese come to mind), adding some sliced meat, drizzling balsamic vinegar on top, or even dolloping a bit of pesto on top. Other good bread-focused appetizers are herbed olive oil with cheese and roasted garlic cloves. So, you can mix and match with your toppings!
If you’re looking to make a meal with bruschetta as your appetizer, look no further! First, let’s start with pasta. Stuffed shells are a great option and so is lasagna (the classic or a vegetarian mushroom version)! To avoid the tomato sauce, we’d recommend either pasta primavera or a nice alfredo pasta. Another good idea would be pizza! Consider our margherita pizza for the ultimate celebration of tomatoes, our cauliflower alfredo pizza, or our goat cheese and vegetable pizza. Eggplant parmesan or chicken parmesan are great main course choices. We could also go for something like a chicken picatta with roasted broccoli and potato wedges. Soup wise, minestrone, pasta e fagioli, or zuppa toscana are nice choices and pair great with bread. Finally, why not a light, homemade caesar salad topped with salmon, chicken, or eggs?
Ingredients
Method
- Cut the Roma tomatoes into quarters and deseed them.
- Dice the Roma tomatoes.
- Place the diced Roma tomatoes in a medium bowl with 1/4 tsp of salt and let them rest for 30 minutes.
- Drain any juice that came out of the Roma tomatoes during their 30 minute rest.
- Mince the garlic and fresh basil.
- Add the garlic, fresh basil, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, remaining salt, and black pepper to the medium bowl with the Roma tomatoes and mix to combine.
- Allow the mixture to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for better flavor.
- Slice the bread. Grill or toast it, as desired.
- Top the sliced bread with the tomato mixture and enjoy!
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