Bruschetta

Louise77

Howdy folks,

Love Dunne & Crecenzi in Dublin and was going to try and replicate their Bruschetta al Pomodoro on Saturday - anybody any idea how to make this to their very high standard - have tried it a few times but it never comes out right!
L

The Sweeper

I've never had it, which puts me at an immediate disadvantage, but anyway.

I always make bruschetta with something like a Turkish pide bread - something flattish, with a very sourdough/strong flour flavour, and a loose bread texture - not like a french stick. I toast it and try to serve it still warm.

I like to crush a couple of cloves of garlic, and then immerse them in olive oil and heat the oil. I'm not trying to fry the garlic as much as infuse the flavour.

I allow the oil to cool to just warm, then drizzle the bread with garlicky oil. Then I salt it lightly with a little ground maldon salt. Then I top it with whatever takes my fancy on the day - sometimes I'll take tomatoes and spend a living age peeling and deseeding them and chopping them into small pieces, then I add handfuls of torn basil and a drizzle of olive oil and leave them, covered, out on the counter top overnight.

I may also try finely chopping and salting some red onion - salt it to pull some of the juice out. Mix with the tomato and top the bruschetta with it.

Occasionally if I want it as a full meal I'll top the whole lot with mozarella and grill it.

The trick for me is that it needs to be a room temperature dish - no coldness, but not necessarily heat (unless I've melted cheese, at which point it probably ceases to be bruschetta).

olaola

I love this too - and I make it all the time, and it's fairly similar to the D&C one.

Get some good ripe tomatoes and chop roughly, add in chunky chopped garlic and a good bit of fresh basil. Mix up in a bowl with good olive oil, salt & pepper.

Get some nice ciabatta, toast and pile up the tomato and drizzle some extra olive oil on top. Sometimes the nicest things are the simplest
Don't leave the mixture too long - use it fairly fresh, but leave it long enough to let the flavours infuse.

Sometimes I rub a clove of garlic over the toasted bread first for extra garlicyness.

Honey-ec

I make mine exactly the same as Olaola except I always rub the toasted bread with garlic before I top it.

Make your tomato mix a few hours beforehand and leave it to infuse at room temperature. It makes all the difference.

m'lady

Hi Minesajackdaniels..

Can u tell me where you can buy Turkish pide bread? Have searched high and low for it over the last number of years and could never get it (besides Turkey!)

The Sweeper

Ah, unfortunately as I'm in Australia, I can only tell you that my local supermarket stocks it, which is probably useless to you!

m'lady

Hey sorry Minesajackdaniels.... didnt cop that you are in Austrailia! I so so love Turkish Pide bread! not fair!!

lorna100

chopped tomatoes, finely chopped garlic, a good bit of olive oil, salt, loads of fresh basil, and some good quality balsamic vinegar. toss everything together, leave in a covered bowl out of the fridge for 3 - 4 hours. I use bread from the polish bakeries, toast it, rub a clove of garlic on it and pile the tomao mix on.