Classic Bruschetta Appetizer Recipe

It doesn’t take traveling to Italy to know that the simple, classic bruschetta appetizer recipe is the perfect way to use summer tomatoes or impress holiday guests.

What Goes With Bruschetta?

Bruschetta (Italian pronunciation: [bruˈsketta] ( listen)) is an antipasto (starter dish) from Italy consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil and salt. Variations may include toppings of tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese. Since Bruschetta is an appetizer, you don’t need to have anything with it.

How to Pronounce Bruschetta

Let’s get right into this Classic Bruscetta Appetizer Recipe and to start us off I wanted to talk about how to pronounce it. I should mention, it’s Cade here and I’m taking over the blog for the day.

We hear people say brush-ey-ta allll the time, but it’s actually pronounced, Brus-kay-tug. Not key-tuh, but kay-tuh. Bruskaytuh.

How to Serve Bruschetta

Bruschetta is a wonderful thing. You can serve it on anything from breakfast to dinner and appetizer to main dish. It’s much like a Mexican salsa in that it’s only a few fresh ingredients and easy to make. We love to serve bruschetta as a cold appetizer. In this recipe we found Balsamic Vinegar and Basil Triscuit crackers and Foccia crackers which were much easier than worrying about buying fresh bread and we didn’t have to do any prep work.

Doesn’t it feel nice to have a healthy appetizer that takes less than 5 minutes to prepare?

If you want to be fancier you can always throw it on top of chicken, in a salad, or even on eggs or toast for breakfast.

How to Store Bruschetta

While tomatoes love to be stored on the counter, once they have been sliced you need to store everything in the fridge which will unfortunately zap the flavor out of the tomatoes and they will produce more juices. We prefer to store in a ziploc bag so that we can press out as much air as possible but rubber containers will work too.

How to Toast Bread for Bruschetta

Should you choose to use bread instead of crackers, which is awesome, make sure you choose a fresh baguette and then slice it on the diagonal. Brush each side of the bread with extra virgin olive oil and rub a sliced piece of garlic over the bread. You can add a tiny pinch of sea salt if you wish.

Bake the bread until golden.

What is the Best Bread for Bruschetta?

A baguette or Italian loaf works fine, sourdough adds a distinctive tang that might go well with your other ingredients, and there’s that old standby (actually a recent invention designed to compete with the baguette), ciabatta.

Just make sure it’s nicely toasted on both sides but not burned.

If you don’t want the bread crispy on both sides just brush only the tops with olive oil.

What Tomatoes to Use for Bruschetta

This is the dish you’ll want to be watching the farmers market to make. When the tomatoes are at their peak in the growing season it’s the perfect time to make classic bruschetta appetizer recipe. The tomatoes are perfectly juicy and flavorful while those in the grocery store lack flavor and that beautiful, rich red inside.

We love to use heirloom tomatoes which provide a variety of flavor and richness to the dish.

How to Know When a Tomato is Ripe

A tomato should be rich in color depending on the variety so gold for the sun bursts, a full red for Roma or Beef Steak, and so on. The tomato should feel heavy in your hand, and trust me, the more you feel tomatoes the more you’ll notice the weight. And the tomatoes should feel very fragile. If you pressed on the skin would it feel like the skin would, pop much like a water balloon with too much pressure? That’s how you know it’s ripe enough to use.

How to Make Classic Bruschetta Appetizer Recipe

This is the easiest recipe ever. Dice a variety of tomatoes and add to a bowl. Don’t worry about getting rid of the seeds and juice as that only adds more flavor.

Gently fold in olive oil and basil.

Place the tomatoes on bread or crackers and add a sprinkle of fine flaked sea salt.

Sometimes we like to throw in feta because when isn’t a little cheese good?

Can Bruschetta Be Made in Advance?

The toppings can be made in advance and the end product is quick and easy to put together, while still being impressive!

Classic Bruschetta Appetizer Recipe

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