Tomato bruschetta

[readsalot]

I was going to put this in a comment to tsuki_no_bara, but then I realized it was getting really long, so I'm going to put it here. I may try to take a picture of this the next time I make it so I can update this entry.

This originally came from a spa cookbook; Heather G. (does anyone know if she's on lj?) made it at one of the group-cooking nights we used to have at her place years ago. I've made it somewhat less healthy by upping the amounts of oil and bread.

You can make this recipe with low-grade tomatoes, but it's best if you make it from really fresh local tomatoes. The difference is astonishing.

This is kind of a rough guide; I tend to just start chopping and stop when I think I have enough.

2 large or 3-4 small very fresh tomatoes
6-8 sun-dried tomatoes
2 big handfuls of basil leaves
2-3 cloves of garlic
1-2 scallions
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper

Cut the tomatoes in half (through the "equator", so that all of the seed pockets are exposed). Scoop out as many of the seeds as possible. Chop the tomatoes into small chunks. Put them in a container that you know you have a lid for; this dish will keep for a week, and you probably won't eat it all at one sitting.

The original recipe for this, which came from a spa cookbook, recommended rehydrating 6-8 dried tomatoes by pouring boiling water on them, letting them sit for 20 minutes, and then discarding the water. I gave up on that a couple of years ago and just went to the oil-packed tomatoes, which are tastier and easier, and this year I found that Trader Joe's has sun-dried tomatoes that are quite nice and already julienned! Yay laziness. Add a handful of these to the chopped tomatoes. (Or dice up some whole ones.)

Chop the basil leaves. The professional way to do this, which is really quite easy, is to take a bunch of them, line them up, and then roll them into a cylinder, and then slice. You get nice slivers of basil that way. Add them to the bowl.

Mince the garlic as finely as possible (or use a press). It's going to stay raw, so you really want the pieces to be as tiny as you can get them. How much to use depends on how much you like raw garlic.

Finely chop the scallions. I love scallions, so I'll use all of two; I think the originally recipe called for only the white part of one scallion.

Stir everything together. Add 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add some salt and pepper. Taste and add more vinegar, olive oil, or seasoning if necessary.

Can be served on anything, really--the original recipe had you take a baguette, slice it thinly, brush the pieces with a tiny amount of olive oil, and toast them. I do that, but I use more baguette and a generous amount of oil. I've also found that melba toast works pretty well, and is much easier if you're bringing this to a party.

Comments

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

yum! thank you for posting that. :>

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an excellent use of good tomatoes.

/sneaking in

[reverend-mother.livejournal.com]

Followed the link from Cindy's post curious to see how you did it :) . I also brush the bread generously with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle it with either parmesan or a mix of parmesan and romano cheeses thne broil it before adding the tomato mixture.

I like yours too and will try it next time :)