Bruschettas for Brunch

The first time I ever laid eyes on a bruschetta was at the bustling cafeteria of the University of Trento in Italy.  Served along with some fine Italian red wine--Carpineto, if I remember right--the flavors stood out so sharp against the mellowness of the olive oil that I pigged out, getting them down as fast as they would go. In other words, my heart was stolen.

However, that would be the last time I ever tasted a real good bruschetta until I came across this lovely recipe by Elise Bauer and then it was bruschetta time again. I must say I ended up with amazing stuff. This recipe is mostly Bauer's, except that I added plenty of mushrooms and some hearty red peppers and substituted roma tomatoes for the plum variety. Also, I did my tomatoes a different and easier way. Next time out, I plan on trying this with sun-dried tomatoes and can't help salivating at the very thought.

Serves 3-4
Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1)  Six ripe red roma tomatoes

2) 1 cup chopped mushrooms

3) 1 large red pepper, deseeded and diced

4) 2 cloves garlic, minced

5) 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

6) 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped

7) 1/4 cup olive oil

8) 1 baguette or Italian bread. preferably whole wheat

9) Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Chop the mushrooms and red peppers. Dice the tomatoes and remove seeds.

2) Warm two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and saute the chopped garlic for a mnute, then add the vegetables and saute till the juices start oozing out. Remove from fire at this stage, do not wait till mixture turns mushy. Mix with chopped fresh basil and salt and pepper in a bowl.

 

3)  Slice the baguette into half, then cut each half length wise till you get four equal sized slices.

Coat the inside of each slice liberally with olive oil. For best results, use home made all purpose herb and garlic infused olive oil.  Heat a griddle till it is almost smoky hot, and toast the slices till they are golden brown on the inside. Do not apply olive oil or toast the crust.

4) Arrange the slices on a platter, spoon the vegetable mixture generously on each slice, garnish with fresh basil and serve.

 Note: Spoon the tomato mixture on to the slices just before serving, to avoid soggy bruschettas.