...or at least it's the version of Julia Child's bruschetta that was made in the wonderful movie, "Julie and Julia". This is so very, very adaptable. Add or subtract any number of ingredients. Our daughter made this with pesto, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and pieces of mozzarella cheese added to the tomatoes, and she and her friends loved it! This is another recipe in which the quantities are very hard to list. You should be able to eyeball the amount of tomatoes you need to cover the number of bread slices you choose to make.Ingredients:
a loaf of quality rustic bread, sliced into one inch slices
one clove garlic
olive oil to coat your frying pan, or as much oil as you like!
an assortment of ripe tomatoes, cut into smallish chunks
fresh basil leaves, torn or cut into pieces
olive oil to dress the tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
finely grated Parmesan cheese - optional
Method:
Mix the tomatoes and basil. Drizzle on olive oil and toss gently; then salt and pepper the tomatoes. The more salt you use, the most juice will be released. Let this marinate while you prepare the bread.
In a skillet, brown the bread slices in the olive oil on both sides, until it's a nice golden color. Remove the bread from the pan. Cut off one end of the garlic clove, and rub carefully over the hot bread slices. The garlic "melts" into the bread by using this method. If you prefer, you could saute the garlic in the oil before browning the bread, but you need to be careful to remove the garlic before adding the bread, or the garlic will burn and become very bitter.
Now pile on the tomatoes, Parmesan if you wish, and enjoy the juice running down your chin!
