When you have some gorgeous ripe tomatoes and are conjuring up an appetizer or just a great fresh tasting lunch, this is your recipe! Another keeper from the British chef dedicated to improving our school lunches and getting our kids enjoying healthy food. “Every child deserves the right food to thrive” is the motto of Jamie’s Food Revolution. Amen to that!
I could eat this every day! The ingredient amounts as you can see are ballpark; feel free to toss in more of everything. I like to serve the bruschetta on a bed of arugula, which adds beautiful flavor and color.
Wyatt turned 6 on Saturday, and I brought this to his party for the adults to nibble along with Ryan’s great butcher shop hot dogs. But you can see his Minion birthday cake was the main event!
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
1 handful black olives
4 to 5 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. dried oregano
A drizzle of herb vinegar
1 dried chile
A handful of fresh basil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 ciabatta or other rustic bread, cut into thick slices
1/2 clove garlic
4 boccacini (fresh mozzarella)
Parmesan, for shaving
I will quote Jamie’s instructions verbatim, as his style is so informal and delightful!
This is probably the quickest salad or bruschetta I make, but no less tasty for that.Very few ingredients, simple flavors, complete sense. Try to make use of the wider range of cherry tomatoes available now: yellow, tige and plum cherry tomatoes for instance. And, as I always say, it’s much better, taste wise, to buy olives with their with their stones still in than without. Trust me.
Simply squash your tomatoes into a bowl. I always have to put one hand over the tomatoes as I do this as juice and pips go everywhere (generally on me.) You can be as rough with the tomatoes as you like, as the salad looks much better rough and rustic than perfect and pretty. Then, gently smash the olives on a board with a hard object, like a cup or a rolling-pin. Remove the stones, throw the olives in with the tomatoes, and toss together. Add a few glugs of oil, the oregano, a drizzle of vinegar, crumbled chile, and rip in the basil. Season to taste, and that’s your salad.
Griddle or toast the slices of bread and rub with the garlic clove, pile on the tomatoes, and rip the mozzarella and lay over the top, drizzle with a little bit more oil and finish with shaves of Parmesan.
Note: My tomatoes were large and juicy, and I poured off lots of the liquid and seeds after squashing them. I toasted my bread slices in a 400 degree oven for 5 or 6 minutes. I didn’t have a chile, so used red pepper flakes instead. And when Jamie says a “handful” of something, his man hands are probably bigger than yours! I used two baskets of cherry tomatoes for this.
{ 0 comments… add one now }