International dishesSavory CakesItalyAbout 20 minutes
Tomato and mozzarella bruschetta takes twenty minutes and turns out a handsome starter. The bread is toasted crisp and rubbed with garlic, then topped with fresh tomato and melted cheese.
Keeping the bread crisp is the hardest part, because juicy tomato softens the surface very quickly. Diced tomato should be drained a little before it goes on the bread. The basil tomato mixture only goes on after the toasting is done, since time in the oven wilts and darkens the leaves.
This batch weighs about 548g, at roughly 223 calories per 100g.
Method
Peel and rinse the garlic, halve the cloves and rub the cut faces over both sides of the 4 slices of bread.
Wash the tomato, cut it into dice and divide it between two bowls.
In the first bowl, mix the tomato with a few drops of fruit vinegar and the finely chopped basil. In the second, mix the tomato with 60g diced mozzarella.
Lay the bread on a baking tray and spoon the tomato and cheese mixture onto two of the slices.
Bake at 200 degrees C until the bread turns golden and the cheese melts.
Take the tray out and spoon the tomato and basil mixture onto the other two slices.
Add a pinch of salt and drizzle 4 teaspoons of olive oil over the slices.
Arrange them on a plate, set whole basil leaves on the cheese slices and serve at once.
Tips
Dark rye bread can be swapped for Vietnamese baguette cut on the diagonal into 1.5cm slices.
Italian basil is hard to find, and Thai basil works with a sharper aroma.
Fruit vinegar can be swapped for apple cider vinegar.
Scooping out the seeds and pulp before dicing the tomato keeps the bread from going wet.
Rub the garlic while the bread is cool and dry, because garlic rubbed on hot bread burns and turns bitter.
Drizzle the olive oil at the end, as oil added before baking loses its aroma.
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