Having made ciabattas (aka Itallian bread), I discovered that they make the best bruschetta EVER! The toasted holey ciabattas are super crunchy and crusty. Just devine with any bruschetta toppings you may desire.
Since I have only eaten but not made bruschetta before, I decided to follow Elise's recipe for tomato bruschetta.
It proved to be a wise decision as it was really easy to prepare, the most time consuming part is probably preparing the tomatoes.
Adapted recipe
4 medium ripe and plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or to taste)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (or to taste)
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
6-8 fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Dry chili flakes (optional)
- Prepare the tomatoes by cutting two small slits at the bottom. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain.
- Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. Be careful as the tomatoes can be rather hot.
- Cut the tomatoes into halves or quarters and remove seeds and juice.
- Dice de-seeded tomatoes into bite size.
- Stir in rest of the ingredients, adding more or less olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar to your taste.
- If eating immediately, serve toppings on toasted ciabattas (or toasted slices of french baguette are fine too). Otherwise and to avoid bread from going soggy, serve the bread and tomatoes separately.
Personally I think they are best eaten warm from the oven, the bread will be super crispy and yummy. I just love the refreshing flavour the fresh herbs brings to this dish. Hm, I'm drooling already thinking of this, looks like I'll need to bake more ciabatta soon.
Bench notes - Be careful toasting/grilling the ciabatta as they brown fairly quickly (even with out butter or olive oil) so DO NOT over multi-task during this period, otherwise you'll end up throwing away the precious burnt slices of ciabatta!! ;)
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