Bring On the Bruschetta!

The tomato season is winding down. There are still plenty of unripe green tomatoes, mostly small one, on the tomato plants, but the days are getting shorter and cooler, so it takes a long time for the green ones to ripen.

I decided to use two of the medium to small ripe ones tonight to make bruschetta since the best bruschetta are made from the best tomatoes.  Sweetie and I each had two and they were wonderful! I did end up with garlic breath since the topping is made with raw garlic, but it's worth it for the flavor.

You can toast the bread on a grill, which is the traditional way, or you can toast it in a cast iron fry pan as I did. The edges of the bread might get a bit burnt before the softer bread is toasted, but it didn't seem to harm the toasts, nor the flavor. I used the whole tomatoes, including the skin, seeds and juices, but you can skin the tomatoes and then discard the seeds and gel holding the seeds if you want a fancy topping. Either way you will get the full taste of summer...garlic, tomatoes, basil and olive oil, plus a touch of balsamic vinegar. If you skip the vinegar you might want to add a touch of salt if the tomatoes are really ripe (as they should be for this recipe.) Don't wait much longer...soon the only tomatoes available won't have the flavor and juiciness of vine ripened summer tomatoes. 

Bruschetta for Two

4 thin slices flavorful, firm bread
1 medium to large fresh, ripe tomato (I used a medium red Costalutto and a small yellow-orange tomato)
2 tablespoons best quality olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic
3-4 leaves fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or some salt, to taste)

Brush a bit of olive oil on the bread slices. Toast the bread slices to a golden brown color. If possible, use a grill to toast them.

Chop the tomato into very small dice and place in a medium bowl, keeping as much tomato juice as possible with the tomatoes. Add the rest of the olive oil, mince the garlic and add, finely chop the basil and add it to the bowl. Stir in the balsamic vinegar until everything is combined, and let the mixture sit until it's time to serve the bruschetta.

When you are ready to serve the bruschetta, warm the toasts, place them on the serving platter. Stir the tomato, oil, garlic and basil together.  Top each toast with 1/4 of the tomato mixture. If you have a few tiny basil leaves you can garnish the bruschetta with them. Add salt and pepper to taste...although you may not need any. Serve at once.