I swear I’m not turning into a food blogger. It’s, uh, just easier to write about food than real life these days. And everyone likes food…real life? Not so much.
My story with bruschetta starts about three years ago.
I was hosting my sister’s bridal shower and I wanted a menu that was summery, bright and fun. I didn’t want any of those mayonnaise based salads my family is so fond of, and I didn’t want any jell-o molds with vegetables and fruit suspended in them (Related: Jell-o…salad? Welcome to the midwest, and NO THANK YOU).
I sought help and found great menu ideas including some awesome caprese skewers and bruschetta. The bruschetta was such a hit, one of the guests asked if she could take home any leftovers. Since foodwise I’m not exactly known for anything other than baking, it was a bit of a personal victory.
Since then, I’ve made it for several events and several showers. When I made it for a bridal shower in June, my cousin took one bite and said, “You’ll need to make this for my bridal shower.” (See? Even when I’m not hosting the darn things, I get wrangled into doing work for ’em. Bleh). And so I did. And it was good.
And then everybody ate it all up and there was nothing left which stinks because I had gotten it into my head how amazing the basil-y tomato-y goodness would taste served over some pasta.
(It’s on my menu for next week. Cannot get it out of my head)
It’s ridiculously easy to make and the worst part is the chopping of the tomatoes. I usually use about ten roma tomatoes and rinse ’em and dice them up. I throw them in a colander so that I can rinse off some of the seeds and gobbledy-gook. I then toss the tomatoes in a large bowl with some extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt. Not too much oil because that would be gross and not too much salt because our arteries are our friends.
Get some fresh basil. Bring it to your nose and inhale – a big whiff. Isn’t that amazing? Yeah. It is. Chop a bunch of it up (it’s a personal preference thing – I think I mighta had a quarter cup – maybe – of chopped basil. [Note: I wanted more and made the mistake of buying basil at Target. It smelled fine in the store and when I got home it was soggy and stinky and it went RIGHT IN THE TRASH. EW.] Then garlic. Fresh cloves of garlic, and not the junk in the jar. Two cloves? Three? It’s your call. You can dice it or use a garlic press. I have sloppy knife skills so, y’know, the press works.
Mix it all together and voila. Deliciousness. I serve it on slices of french baguette that have been toasted with a drizzle of olive oil. But next time? I’ll be serving it over pasta.
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The recipe was originally sent to me by Joe of The Hungry Dudes and I’ve probably butchered it a little, so if my lack of precise measuring messes you up, blame me and not him. Also, if you taste as you go, it’s really hard to mess it up. You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.
About sarah
Now I want some as well. The pasta idea sounds great.