Tomato and basil bruschetta, two ways
Last year we moved to Indiranagar, one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Bangalore. In a city devoid of a decent public transport system, it was good to live in a place where one could walk to most places one needed to go to regularly. Very soon we had our local restaurant scene figured out. One of our favorite places has been Café Max, a small European restaurant run in the Goethe Instituit, a mere two minutes walk from where we live. On days we do not want to cook, Café Max is our path of least resistance.
One of the pleasures of cooking is recreating your favorite dishes in your own kitchen, and last year on Christmas we recreated one of our most-loved dishes from Café Max—our go-to starter to split before a meal, the bruschetta topped with chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic and basil. We updated the original and made our version without the onions, and with mozzarella. And to make things more festive, we made a second kind too. The same bread, but topped instead with our staple basil pesto, slow roasted cherry tomatoes and parmesan shavings.
Tomato and basil bruschetta, two ways
(makes about a dozen)
One baguette, sliced diagonally into slices about ¾-1 in. thick
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
⅙ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar
Freshly milled salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh tomatoes, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 tbsp finely chopped basil
½ cup fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 cup of basil pesto
1 cup of slow roasted cherry tomatoes
Parmesan shavings
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
2. Whisk together the vinegar, oil and sugar and pour this vinaigrette over the chopped tomatoes, garlic and basil in a medium-sized bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let this sit for half an hour.
3. Brush olive oil on the baguette slices, and toast in the preheated oven at 200°C for 3-5 minutes.
2. Spread pesto on half the baguette slices, and top with the slow roasted cherry tomatoes and Parmesan shavings.
3. Layer the mozzarella on the remaining baguette slices, and top with the tomato and vinaigrette mixture.
