The secret to this recipe is using the freshest possible ingredients. Ripe red tomatoes, garden basil, and buffalo style mozzarella are all complimented by crusty bread brushed with garlic flavored olive oil.
I am a confessed tomato snob. For years I have scoured grocery stores for ripe tomatoes through the darkest of winter days only to be disappointed with pink mealy results. It's pretty simple: to make any good bruschetta you need the freshest possible tomatoes. In this case it has little to do with culinary expertise and a lot to do with fresh ingredients.
At this time of the year, tomatoes are not quite in season, but many locally grown greenhouse tomatoes are available at farmers markets. Though they're not quite as good as just picked summer tomatoes, they come close enough for a tomato lover like myself. I've been buying a lot of delicious greenhouse grown tomatoes from Sunnyside Farm and Orchards (Sunday DuPont farmer's market and Wednesday Foggy Bottom market).
I might as well admit to being a mozzarella snob as well. I can't believe that I lived most of my live thinking that mozzarella only came shredded in a resealable plastic bag. Thank goodness some good friends rescued me from my ignorance a few years ago! Life has been much better since. Most recently, my favorite buffalo style mozzarella (large ball of fresh mozzarella in water) comes from the Blue Ridge Dairy. They can be found at Sunday's DuPont Circle farmers market and are also sold at some Whole Foods stores in the DC area.
Between these fine ingredients and my garden basil, I've been making a lot of my favorite bruschetta. The first few times I made bruschetta I used fresh minced garlic. This still tasted good, but the garlic really overwhelmed all the other wonderful flavors. After a little ruminating, I came up with a great way to make the garlic flavor more complementary: garlic flavored olive oil. Thus, the secret to this bruschetta's delicious flavor is that the garlic merely enhances (rather than overwhelming) the fresh tomato and basil.
Basic Bruschetta Recipe:
- 1 loaf of bakery baguette
- 3 TB olive oil
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 2 medium-large ripe tomatoes, chopped
- 1 ball of Buffalo style mozzarella, sliced into 1 inch pieces
- 1 bunch of fresh basil leaves, sliced
- salt, to taste
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice the baguette and place the pieces on a foil lined cookie sheet.
In the meantime, heat olive oil in small sauce pan. Add the garlic slices and allow them to simmer for a few minutes. Do not let it overcook or the oil will have a burnt flavor. Set aside.
Combine tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and salt.
Place the bread in the oven. Bake until the edges are golden brown (8-10 minutes). Remove bread from oven and brush each slice generously with the garlic flavored olive oil. Add tomato mixture to each slice. If desired, drizzle each piece with a little bit of the leftover oil.
Voila! So simple and yet so delicious.
