“It’s impossible not to love someone who made toast for you.”
— Nigel Slater, in “Toast”
Bruschetta is toast with a fancy Italian name. A wonderful appetizer at cocktail gatherings and backyard barbecues, in our home, it’s way more than finger food. Bruschetta for dinner is a simple and expeditious means of using up that half loaf of good bread topped with the odds and ends of delicious meals, and the last of the half-filled jars of condiments.
Don’t confuse bruschetta with crostini, or “little toasts” in Italian. Crostini are thin slices of baguette that are cooked until very crunchy. Bruschetta — derived from the Italian word “bruscare,” meaning “to roast over coals,” is drizzled with olive oil before toasting over a grill or under the broiler. The slices are typically bigger, thicker and softer than crostini.
While the typical topping for bruschetta is fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil layered over mozzarella cheese, there’s no reason to stop there, especially this time of year, when fresh tomatoes are found wanting. The key to good bruschetta is good bread and good oil.
With bread, ciabatta is my first choice. It has a sturdy crust and light crumb that absorbs the oil. Baguettes also work well; the crumb is denser so the slices are better suited to moist toppings. Sourdough bread has a lovely tang and can be dense and chewy. Whole wheat works wonderfully if the toppings are paired to the nutty flavor of the wheat.
