Bruschetta-the perfect food of summer
When you think about summer, you think sunshine and beautiful produce. Nature offering it's best self to you and making it all look beautiful and effortless.
I'm going to talk about Bruschetta. Before you get bored and think what is this girl going to tell me that I already don't know. Well not much. I am merely sharing a love story and a connection to a very simple dish.
Some food reminds you of memories and people. Sometimes you smell something and you can see yourself as a child looking at this food in the same eye as you had before. This is what it means to me to eat tomatoes and bread in the summer. This is what it means to me to eat Bruschetta.
I saw myself as a child on our old picnic table eating this the other day when my husband made it for me for dinner. Sometimes I request it to be made as my whole dinner. I can easily eat like 5 pieces with a small glass of red wine and become one happy lady.
My mom is the bruschetta queen. Everyone we know, learned how to make it the best way from my mother. She uses little ingredients and doesn't doo too much to change what the ingredients should taste like.
She would go to the garden and pick tomatoes and basil and bring them inside to wash. We always used bread that was maybe 1 day old and toasted it until it was golden brown. She used good olive oil and enough that it just coated the tomatoes and made them shine in the sun. The touch of good balsamic vinegar gave the tomatoes a little sweetness and the grated Pecorino on top added the richness you crave with that acidity. A few cracks of the pepper mill and a little sea salt on top and everyone would come running. It's like we all had a bell ring inside of us to rush to the table and get a nice piece.
Going to the garden too get the ingredients is part of the romance of making this dish. Coming back with the smell of tomato vines on your hands and fresh basil somehow connects you more to the soil. I have a huge problem with people who screw with this dish. As you can tell I am very attached to it and I am very oppinionated about the ingredients inside and the quantities. I go as far as to fight with my husband about chopping up red onions and adding to the mixture.
May years ago when we first started living with each other, he made it for me. The monster in me came out when I ate a bite and found an onion. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS, I asked? Do what, he says? PUT THESE ONIONS IN HERE! ARE CRAZY? When in fact I am actually the crazy one, because I am fighting about onions.
Needless to say he has stopped using onion whenever he is making it for us.
I am just really attached to this food. It is a dish of my mother and grandmother and makes me feel connected to food when I eat it. So naturallty, when anyone screws with it, I get pissed. I never order it in a restaurant unless I really know they can make it well. If it's not made well, it's ruined for me.
So what are the ingredients I use?
Bread that has a thick crust and is a little dry, tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, grated pecorino and salt and pepper. That is it!
I grill or toast the bread and leave it on the side, then I make the tomato mixture
I dice the tomatoes and cut the basil in strips so it doesn't get bitter.
I add in usually 1 to 1.5 garlic cloves, chopped, season it with salt and black pepper
Add the olive and vinegar
I like to make it so the chopped tomatoes are coated with oil and vinegar but not swimming in it. Enough marinade that it has a little extra to drizzle on top of the bread and soak in. Then I let it sit there for a few minutes so the tomatoes marinate.
Once the mixture has marinated for a while, I place it on the bread and finish it with the grated cheese. For something so simple, it can be easily messed up.
I will remain stubborn on how to make it and enjoy every bite of it whenever and whoever makes it for me. For me bruschetta is something really special and it is meant to be shared, so make some for loved ones and enjoy the sunshine!
Until next time...
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