Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta

After a lot of deliberation, consultation and agony over what should be my hundredth recipe, I finally zeroed in on this fantastic but easy Italian appetizer called 'Bruschetta'. Pronounced as brusketta it is made of a French Baguette bread which is toasted and a little garlic is rubbed on to its surface and is topped with a variety of ingredients.

Of course this was not a difficult recipe. Then why did I choose this to be my hundredth recipe? It is meant to be a tribute to the one movie or should I say two people  who started it all in the first place.. Yup, you got it. Julie and Julia. Now this is not a French recipe. But this is a recipe Julie Powell is eating just as she decides that she is going to write her own blog. I fell in love with the look of the recipe as she was making it. I dreamed of being able to make something as beautiful someday.

This is what I made. Take a look at it for yourself and tell me if it appealed to you too.

Ingredients
  • 1 loaf French Baguette loaf
  • about 1/2 stick butter
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 large tomatoes
  • 6 to 7 cloves of garlic
  • 5 basil leaves
  • 1 tsp dry red chilli powder (the original recipe called for pepper, but I added dry red chilli for that extra zing)
  • salt to taste
Slice the baguette diagonally to make elongated slices of about 1/2 an inch each. Toast them in the oven or over a griddle and keep them aside.

Place a pot of water over heat and bring it to a boil. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water and turn off the heat. Let the tomatoes remain in the water for about a minute. Remove the tomatoes and peel the skins. Chop them roughly and keep them aside.

Chop the garlic into fine pieces. Now heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a wok and add the garlic to it. Throw in the tomatoes and basil, salt and dry red chilli powder to taste.

Heat the butter on a griddle and pour one tablespoon of olive oil in it. Now place the toasted bread slices in it and fry well on both sides. Remove them onto a serving plate, and spoon out a portion of the tomato basil mixture on it. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve hot!






Happy Cooking!

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