October 5, 2010 - 7:13pm
Bruschettary goodness
This morning, i had the pleasure of getting out my fresh loaf of sourdough, picking some beautiful portobello mushrooms from my mushroom kit and making lovely bruschetta.
I fried up the mushrooms in some olive oil with thyme and toasted slices of the bread under the grill with basil pesto and olive oil spread on them. Topped with the fryed mushrooms it made a delicious and easy breakfast all homemade or grown.
I'd love to hear of anyone elses topping ideas that they enjoy with their fresh bread
Share
What a great sense of achievement/satisfaction to have made the bread and grown the mushrooms. Did you make the pesto and grow the thyme, too? Imagine if you had pressed the olive oil as well. Now that would have been a tale. :)
You can't beat homegrown and freshly picked for flavour. Even the simplest of toppings become divine. Homegrown, vine-ripened tomatoes with a chiffonade of basil and drizzled with artisan quality olive oil come to mind.
I did indeed make the pesto and grow the thyme- haven't gone so far as making olive oil yet but that would be truly wonderful.
I like the tomato and basil idea- maybe with a bit of cream cheese too! You're right, there really is nothing like home-grown tomatoes. Supermarket ones just don't cut it.
I make a Sundried Tomato Jam that I love. Put some on toasted sourdough and top with goat cheese. Bet you can't eat just one! lol
since i first wrote this post, 've been experimenting heaps with bruschetta toppings and i now have a favourite.
It begins with a base of beatiful toasted chewy wholemeal sourdough. I then spread it with Tigullio olive bruschetta dip (amazing stuff). On top of that i add some homade marinated chargrilled capsicums (bell peppers as you americans call them!), some feta, some fresh diced home grown tomatoes (it's important to get home grown because they taste ten times better) and sprinkle the whole thing with basil.
It's the perfect breakfast or snack or even light lunch.
As someone mentioned, mushrooms would also be great- i've also tried caramelised red onion, anchovies and goats curd (chevre)
Yum!
I know I'm a little late to this party, but I thought I'd share some very simple things the little lady and I do on bruschetta. We have 2 we do primarily but they are season dependent.
In the summer time when we can get our hands on some figs, I take a few, cut them in half and put them into a small fry pan with a splash of olive oil and a bit of balsamic. I cook them down over relatively low heat until the figs have softened and the balsamic has reduced. At the same time, give your crostini a bit of a toasting (if you want to, we like a bit of crunch) and spread some goat cheese over them. Then, simply spoon the fig and balsamic mixture over the top. Takes about 5 minutes and it has a very nice tangy, vinegary, sweet flavor.
The second one typically works well in summertime, but really anytime you can get your hands on some good tomatoes it works. Take your crostini and brush them with a bit of olive oil and toss them under the broiler for a bit to crisp them up. Chop up some tomatoes (we prefer heirloom in different colors for the visual appeal) and toss them into a bowl with some olive oil. Also chop up some fresh basil and put it into the bowl and give it a mix. Spoon a bit of the olive oil mixture (just the liquid, not the tomatoes) on the crostini and then sprinkle on some salt and some parmigano or pecorino. Now, put on the tomatoes and drizzle over the remainder of the olive oil and basil mixture.
Truthfully, the order in which you put them on doesn't matter, but my thought is the first round of olive oil will help the salt and cheese stick and having the salt and the cheese on the bread rather than putting it on top of the tomatoes means that if some of the chunky tomatoes fall off, you're not losing your seasoning.
Again, very simple, and delicious on a hot day with a glass of chilled white wine.
My alltime favourite topping is one that we used to get in our local pizzeria when I lived just outside of Rome. Artichokes roughly blended/mashed with grated pecorino, lemon zest and garlic and extra virgin olive oil. I make it myself occasionally and it's utterly gorgeous!