Looking for a fancy bite or just something to put on a toast? Let’s try this Bruschetta recipe that’s more than just a hoax!
Abstract thinking is what allows us to crack jokes, grasp to concepts of freedom or assign value to worthless pieces of paper, coins or symbols.
Historians and economists like to theorize that trading goods by perceived value started about the same time (at least 105,000 years ago) the same time language evolved. When our ancestors started farming and as a result, they started to produce surplus, things really took off.
Surplus goods were kept in a communal storage facility which made it easier to protect it from rodents, thieves or natural disasters but less easy to withdraw the same amount as placed in. People had to come up with solutions to keep track of the amount of goods they stored.
Probably they tried many things that hadn’t lived through the test of time or anti-forgery requirement, like pieces of leather, sticks or fur, but many grew really fond of using shells in those times. In fact, shell money was proved to be so popular that people used them as far as the early 20th century in remote parts of Africa when they were replaced by modern currencies.
From using pieces of shells to retrieve goods to using them for exchange of goods, there really wasn’t a big leap. Once people got the idea of how much goods or services they can get for a piece of otherwise useless thing, money was born.
Since then, not many things has changed. Now we know that we are an absolute sucker for value proposition. We can assign value for anything and dedicate exorbitantly unreasonable amount of time, money or both to acquire it.
So, assigning value to seemingly worthless things is with us for a while now, but in recent decades, it really started to take over our life. With disposable income -or sometimes without it- we don’t think twice to pay 3 times as much money for things that have our favorite logo on them, even if others are more apt for the job be those cars, headphones or smartphones.
It would be strange if we leave out from our little mind game one of our favorite pastimes, eating.
Of course, no one needs an introduction to the luxury goods of wines, champagne or 3 stared meals but we try to increase the value of our food on a more subtle, personal level too.
Calling something mundane, like pulled pork to Carnitas or something made with cauliflower and tomato sauce to pizza, will most likely positively alter its perception, similarly as calling a piece of toast with tomato on it to Bruschetta.
Bruschetta, in Italy simply means a toast. Originally stale bread was used to prepare it, as a way of using up any bread that otherwise didn’t tickle anyone’s fancy. During some parts of the year, like when the olives were first pressed for their oils in November, people consumed it more often to get the first flavors of the harvest, then its consumption went back to its normal level.
Since toasts in Italy are generally rubbed with garlic and splashed with a bit of olive oil and salt, having a slice of Bruschetta also means we expect these basic ingredients to be around, or more likely on our toast.
When we want to dip our bread into more lavish pleasures, adding various topping to our basic Bruschetta will take it to the next level. Tomato, basil and mozzarella can be found in most Italian household so using them as an ingredient makes perfect sense just as much on a pizza or pasta as it does on a toast.
The more extravagant, yet quite accepted options out there in Italy, like vegetables, beans or the typical Italian ham the prosciutto, but if people let their imagination run wild, there really isn’t any limit (maybe there is, and it’s called maple syrup).
Unfortunately, outside of Italy, we only know Bruschetta as a toast with olive oil with de-seeded tomato, and it is largely frown upon the rest of the possibilities. Especially if we learn that prosciutto is cured, aka raw pork and it tastes nothing like ham at home.
In this internationally recognizable form, Bruschetta differs only slightly from the Spanish (or for those in the known Catalan) Tostada con Tomate which is also just a toast with some tomato on top.
Interestingly, the British beans on toast also has many common elements with Bruschetta, namely that it uses bread, some form of tomato and beans but while Bruschetta or in fact tostada con tomate manages to make to best out of something rudimentary simple, the hidden gem of British cuisine does the opposite.
A tasty flavorful Bruschetta needs very little in ingredients or in efforts to have a reasonably healthy breakfast or appetizer as it is used in Italy. Unbelievably, a slice or two of quality bread with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and a good deal of chopped tomato with our morning tea or coffee goes a long way.
Ingredients
- 2 slices / 60g Bread
- 1 piece / 200g Tomato
- 1 clove / 3g Garlic
- 1 tablespoon / 15ml Extra virgin olive oil (the more expensive the tastier)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional
- Prosciutto
- Mozzarella
- Basil
How to make Bruschetta
- If we have the ability to roast our slice of bread over open fire like our favorite barbecue then fire it up. Otherwise use any available method to roast the bread, be that a brustolina grill, dedicated toaster o the broiler in our oven. We can also make toast in any of our trusty skillet with a tablespoon of oil, one side at a time.
- While the bread is toasting, de-seed the tomatoes. This can be done in various ways but the fastest is to cut the tomatoes in half horizontally then squeeze out the seed and juice by hand.
- Chop the tomato up into rough, about hazelnut sized pieces.
- Mix it with salt and pepper to taste and if desired with some olive oil too. Set it aside until it is served. If it is not used immediately, keep it in an airtight container.
- Once the bread is done, rub garlic on one side then drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on. Top it with the chopped tomato es and/or any other topping of choice.
- While the bread is toasting, de-seed the tomatoes. This can be done in various ways but the fastest is to cut the tomatoes in half horizontally then squeeze out the seed and juice by hand.
Enjoy!
Bruschetta Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 slices Bread
- 1 piece Tomato
- 1 clove Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil the more expensive the tastier
- Salt and pepper to taste
Optional
- Prosciutto
- Mozzarella
- Basil
Instructions
- If we have the ability to roast our slice of bread over open fire like our favorite barbecue then fire it up. Otherwise use any available method to roast the bread, be that a brustolina grill, dedicated toaster o the broiler in our oven. We can also make toast in any of our trusty skillet with a tablespoon of oil, one side at a time.
- While the bread is toasting, de-seed the tomatoes. This can be done in various ways but the fastest is to cut the tomatoes in half horizontally then squeeze out the seed and juice by hand.
- Chop the tomato up into rough, about hazelnut sized pieces.
- Mix it with salt and pepper to taste and if desired with some olive oil too. Set it aside until it is served. If it is not used immediately, keep it in an airtight container.
- Once the bread is done, rub garlic on one side then drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on. Top it with the chopped tomato es and/or any other topping of choice.
Notes
Pin now, Enjoy later
