There Will Be Food! Part Two: An Ode to Tomatoes and Basil - Bruscetta

The weather seems to be coming around and there has been more sunshine this past week which takes away my winter woes.  One thing that never changes is my obsession with food.  So, here's the next round of deliciousness with tomatoes and basil.

Appetizer
The main thing to keep in mind when chopping, dicing, etc is the size.  This is an appetizer to be served on crispy bread.  Every bite you take should be very easy and clean.  The more uniform everything is cut, the easier it will be eat!  

BRUSCETTA
Serves 3-4

Topping
1 medium vine ripened tomato
~10 large fresh basil leafs
2 large garlic cloves
6 kalamata olives
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Oil

Bread
1 Loaf Italian Bread 
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Topping
Dice the tomato into roughly 1/2 inch pieces, keep in mind that you want the pieces small enough so that you can bite easily into them.  

Take your basil leaves, stack then roll together tightly.

Slice into roughly 1/4" slices, being careful to not cut your fingers!  Once they are cut in strips, I then cut them in the other direction so that I get roughly the same size 1/4" pieces.  This will make distributing the basil throughout the topping easier, also, it will make it easier to eat.  

Alright, now slice the kalamata olives into roughly 1/4" slices, this equates to about two slices per olive, each olive will then be in three pieces.

Add all of these ingredients to a large bowl.  Then take the peeled garlic cloves and run through a garlic press.  If you don't have one, just chop the garlic into the tiniest pieces you possibly can!  The garlic will give the topping a punch!

From here add 2 tablespoons each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a little sprinkle of kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Now its time to broil the bread.  Slice the Italian loaf into 1/2" slices.  You'll only need about 10 slices for the amount of mixture we've made.  Lay out the slices onto a cookie sheet and drizzle the tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  The 2 tablespoons is for ALL of the slices, just to clarify.  

Set your broiler to high and broil for about 2 minutes, keep your eye on it because the broiler is very hot and will easily burn the bread.  It should look like this:

Turn over and repeat.  Once both sides are nice and crispy it is time to add the topping!  Transfer the slices to your serving dish and top each slices with a couple spoonfuls of the mixture and voila!  Beautiful and delicious perfectly portioned and individual appetizer to make the dreary go away and give you a taste of summer!  Enjoy!

Let me know what you think!