On summer evenings, when dinner is still being prepared, and you already want to have a bite, Italy serves bruschetta - a very simple, but incredibly appetizing snack!
Indeed, what could be simpler than slices of bread, fried and grated with garlic, similar to our croutons? But this simple "base", complemented by various ingredients, acquires so many variations and tastes that it is difficult to decide which one to try first!
Tomatoes and greens are put on the bread; ham and cheese; pepper and zucchini, olives, mushrooms and fish ... Season with fragrant oil, spices, garlic, herbs. Anything on the garden or in the fridge will work!
This colorful and tasty splendor is cooked easily and quickly - 15 minutes, and in your kitchen, veranda, courtyard delightful aromas are heard that will attract not only households, but also neighbors. And everyone will want to know the recipe for a chic Italian dish! And we are happy to share. And not with one recipe, but with five - today we are tasting a mix of 5 types of bruschettas for different tastes! Although the whole variety, probably not even dozens, but hundreds. But, having mastered the rules of cooking and “catching” the wave, you can create further yourself, combining your favorite products and coming up with your own, author's recipes of bruschetta.
The tempting Italian word “bruschetta” comes from bruscare, which means “bake on coals”. The title contains the main feature of bruschetta, which distinguishes it from sandwiches, both ordinary and hot - the bread for bruschetta should certainly be fried, and then spread on it.
Interestingly, the Italians invented this recipe as if “in passing” - in fact, they are not going to invent a new dish, but ... taste olive oil. In family production, when the oil is pressed by a press, the owner always tries the first batch, substituting a slice of bread. And it tries twice: the first time - just like that, and the second - by frying bread over the fireplace or hearth and “catching” the first butter on it again. Well, then, if the oil is good, you can add garlic, and put something delicious on top! This is how bruschetta appeared. By the way, for its preparation it is better to use olive oil “Extra virgin” of the 1st cold press, the most useful and fragrant. Although unrefined sunflower is also tasty. Classic bruschetta bread is Italian ciabatta. If that is difficult to get in your edges, the baguette will approach. You can take any white bread - it will not be authentic, but also delicious. Sometimes bruschetta is cooked with wholemeal or rye bread.
Cut the bread into slices 1 cm thick. If you use a baguette, cut not exactly, but diagonally: the slices will be elongated, beautiful shape and larger area - which means they will fit more tasty stuffing!
Now you need to fry the bread. There are two ways.
First - fry in a dry frying pan, alternately on both sides, on the fire more than an average of 1-2 minutes.
Second - dry the bread in the oven, also a couple of minutes at 180-200 ºC. A minute on one side, then turn over and another minute on the other. It is necessary that the bread outside becomes crispy, and inside it remains soft. Be careful not to dry the slices.
Well, if there is a grill or barbecue grill, then there will be delicious crisp strips on the bread.
Roasted bread rubbed garlic cloves. The base for bruschetta is ready! And now let's see what can be put on top.
We offer you five combinations of tastes for bruschetta, which can be easily prepared:
1. Bruschetta with tomatoes and basil
The classic and easiest type of bruschetta: look at the beds, and here is a couple of ripe tomatoes and a bunch of fresh herbs to put on a slice of toasted bread with olive oil!
Ingredients:
For 2 servings:
- 2 pieces of baguette;
- 2 large ripe tomatoes;
- A small bunch of basil;
- A few sprigs of parsley;
- Salt, ground black pepper;
- Garlic - 1-2 cloves;
- Olive oil;
- Vinegar (can be table, but better than wine or balsamic - it will be tastier).
Tomatoes mine, make a cross-shaped cut from below and pour boiling water for a couple of minutes, then lower it in cold water. Now the peel is easily removed. Peel tomatoes and cut into cubes.
Basil and parsley dipped in cold water for 4-5 minutes, then rinsed in running water, slightly dried and finely cut.
Add garlic, chopped or passed through a press, salt and pepper, sprinkle with olive oil and vinegar.
Combine tomatoes with herbs, mix and let stand for a few minutes.
We spread the tomato-basil mixture on the prepared slices of bread and serve.
2. Bruschetta with cheese and tomatoes
And if one more ingredient is added to the previous version, a new taste is obtained! Cheese goes well with tomatoes and spicy purple basil. You can take green basil, but its taste is slightly different, with a lemon note.
Ingredients:
For 2 servings:
- 2 slices of baguette;
- 2 slices of hard cheese;
- 4-5 cherry tomatoes;
- For a few sprigs of basil and parsley;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- Pepper, salt;
- Olive oil.
My tomatoes and cut into thin slices, 2-3 mm.
Wash greens and chop, add garlic and spices. Mix the tomato circles with spices and let stand 5-7 minutes, but for now we dry the slices of baguette.
We put slices of cheese on bread, and on top of cheese - slices of tomatoes.
Sprinkle bruschetta with chopped basil and parsley, sprinkle with vegetable oil.
And put in an oven preheated to 200 ºC for 3-5 minutes until cheese melts. Mozzarella is ideal for this recipe, but an expensive variety can be easily replaced by “Dutch” or other low-melting cheese.
Due to the melted cheese, the bruschetta becomes soft and juicy, and the garlic and basil when baking exude wonderful flavors! Serve and eat warm, immediately out of the oven!
3. Bruschetta with sweet pepper
Here is another type of bruschetta that goes into the oven twice - first we dry the bread, and then we prepare the sandwich itself. Very tasty and delicate version of the dish - with baked peppers and cheese!
Ingredients:
For 2 servings:
- 2 slices of white bread;
- 1-2 sweet lettuce peppers;
- 30 g of hard cheese;
- For a few sprigs of greens - basil, parsley, dill;
- Spices - salt-pepper + your favorite (oregano, thyme);
- Vegetable oil.
Peppers choose fleshy, juicy. Wash and wrap in baking foil (shiny side out, matte inside).
We bake at 180-200 ºC for 15 minutes (until soft). Unfolding the foil, let the peppers cool, then remove the peel; cut the pepper, clean the seeds and cut the flesh into strips.
Mix peppers with chopped greens, spices and diced cheese - let them stand for 5-7 minutes so that the tastes and smells of all the ingredients merge into a single appetizing symphony - and lay out a bright assorted on the prepared, just fried bread. And again send in a hot oven for 3-4 minutes. Serve warm peppers bruschetta!
4. Bruschetta with ham and zucchini
But a more satisfying option for those who want something more substantial than vegetables and greens - bruschetta with ham. There are vegetables here too - zucchini squash will add to the dish volume, benefit and color.
Ingredients:
For 2 servings:
- A couple of pieces of bread;
- 1 small zucchini;
- 100 g of ham;
- 1-2 cloves of garlic;
- Some greens;
- Salt, pepper, olive oil.
Zucchini choose a young, with a thin skin and inconspicuous seeds. There are two ways how to prepare it for sandwiches.
It looks very interesting if you cut the zucchini into thin slices along (2mm thick) and fry on the grill. On the thin petals of the zucchini remain ruddy stripes. If there is no grill, the oven grill is suitable. Slices need to sprinkle with vegetable oil so that they do not get dry.
The second way is to cut the zucchini into slices about 2mm and fry on both sides in a frying pan with vegetable oil. This is not as spectacular, but more juicy and also tasty option.
After frying the zucchini, we put circles or slices in a plate, add chopped greens and garlic, salt, pepper and let stand for 7-10 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the bread.
Put the zucchini on the fried and rubbed with garlic, warm slices of bread.
Top with thin slices of ham. Best for Bruschetta suitable Parma dry-cured ham - fragrant and tender, leading origin from the Italian province of Parma.
We decorate bruschetta with ham with sprigs of bright, fragrant greens - parsley or arugula, or you can mint leaves - very piquant and elegant!
5. Bruschetta with eggplant paste
And for a snack - bruschetta with blue! Eggplant, like zucchini, can be served in two variations.
Ingredients:
For 2 servings:
- 2 pieces of baguette;
- 1 eggplant;
- 1 tomato;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- Unrefined vegetable oil;
- Freshly ground black pepper;
- Salt;
- Parsley, dill.
Option One: with eggplant circles.
We cut the blue one into circles 1-2 mm thick, salt and leave for 10-15 minutes, and then rinse with water to remove the bitterness.
Fry the circles on both sides in a frying pan with vegetable oil, put in a plate and season with herbs and spices. After a few minutes, you can lay out the eggplants on crisp bread, decorate with greens and eat.
Option Two: with eggplant paste.
It's a little longer, but more interesting! Eggplant is wrapped in foil and baked for 20 minutes at 180 ºC so that it becomes soft. Unfolding, wait until cool, and peel.
Chop the eggplant pulp with a knife to a pasty state and mix with chopped greens and garlic. Salt, pepper to taste, add fragrant vegetable oil. And to make the paste juicier, you can add a diced ripe tomato diced. Mix well, spread on dried bread slices and serve.
Here's what assorted it turned out - try it! And then tell me which version of bruschetta you liked the most.
