Bruschetta
This can be a meal unto itself. Serve
with a small field greens salad.
1 loaf panne rustico (rectangle shaped hard
crust bread)
8-10 plum tomatoes
Fresh basil
Fresh garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Shaved Romano cheese
1/2 small can black
beans (well rinsed)
1/2 small Bermuda
(red) onion (chopped)
Salt & pepper
to taste
In a medium bowl, mix "chunked" tomatoes
(see below), red onion, black beans,
chopped basil, olive oil, and vinegar,
salt and pepper to taste. There
should be some juice in the bowl, which
is a combination of tomatoes, oil and
vinegar, but it should not be soupy. Set
aside until ready to use. More
liquid will appear as the tomatoes macerate.
Slice bread evenly into 1 inch thick
slices, place on foil lined baking sheet. In
a chopper/food processor, chop some fresh
garlic and basil together. Slowly
add olive oil to make a wet paste (similar
to pesto.) Spread mixture lightly
on bread. Place bread under the
broiler to toast.
Remove bread from broiler, place on
serving platter. Spoon tomato mixture
over warm bread, garnish with whole basil
leaves and shaved Romano cheese.
*To chunk tomatoes, first cut
lengthwise and then cut halves into one-bite
pieces. Generally yields 6 or 8 chunks
depending on size of tomato. For
variety, use some yellow tomatoes in
the mixture.
*To shave the Romano cheese,
use a vegetable peeler on the block of
Romano
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