Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta
Before the summer ends, celebrate the season with this super quick and easy Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta. Slice four ripe heirloom tomatoes, and place them on top of French bread slices and fresh mozzarella slices to make this beautiful appetizer.
Y’all. Football season officially kicks off this week, and I cannot even contain my excitement because football season is one of my favorite seasons of the year… and because I’m officially bringing back Tailgate Thursday.
This time around, it’ll be a little different because we are not tailgating every week, but y’all had better believe we will be making up awesome tailgate food to munch on as we watch our Tigers on the television.
However, we are tailgating this weekend, as the Tigers are coming up to Dallas to play against TCU’s Horned Frogs in the 2013 Cowboys Classic. We’re pretty pumped about it. After all, it’ll be our first game since we moved to Texas, and I know it’s going to be a great time since we have family and friends coming in for it.
So… Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta.
The name alone implies it’s not a normal recipe you’d find at a traditional tailgate, and I’m OK with that. I’m sharing it with y’all today because it’s something that can be easily prepped beforehand, then pulled together once you and your crew have gotten the grill started and the party set up. In fact, the only work this recipe calls for on location is the bread should be toasted on the grill. And you can keep the other components of the recipe chilling in the cooler until the time is right.
Once you warm up the bread, all you do is place the pre-cut slices of mozzarella, tomato and basil on top of the bread, then drizzle with both olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top the bruschetta off with a sprinkle of both salt and freshly ground pepper, and you’ve got an awesome appetizer for your party without having to do much work at all! Bonus points for including some vegetables into the mix at your tailgate, as I find these are sometimes hard to come by. (Just me?)
Here’s how you make it:
Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta
Before the summer ends, celebrate the season with this super quick and easy Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta. Slice four ripe heirloom tomatoes, and place them on top of French bread slices and fresh mozzarella slices to make this beautiful appetizer.
Ingredients
- 1 baguette, sliced into 24 rounds (12 oz.)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 heirloom tomatoes, sliced (about ¾ lb.)
- 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
- 8 oz. buffalo mozzarella ball, sliced into 24 rounds
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Balsamic vinegar, for garnish
- Additional extra virgin olive oil, for garnish
Instructions
- Slice the baguette into even rounds.
- Brush the bread with the olive oil using
- Toast the bread rounds on a HOT grill for 5 minutes or toast in the oven at 400F for 7-10 minutes.
- When the bread is golden brown and toasted, layer with the cheese and tomatoes. Add the basil.
- Top each slice with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then add a little salt and pepper to finish each.
- Enjoy immediately!
Notes
When we initially tried this, our mozzarella was SMOKED. You can jazz it up in this regard if you want to, but classic mozzarella is always tasty, too!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 servingAmount Per Serving: Calories: 182Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 381mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 9g
Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate.
I definitely fee like there is a severe lack of veggies at tailgating (and general sports-watching). this sounds great.
I’m totally a fan of fresh, lighter foods at a tailgate. Wonderful idea! Smoked mozzarella also sounds like a wonderful ingredient here. I recently had bruschetta with fire-roasted tomatoes and would highly recommend that route as well.
I can’t say we tailgate (we lived half a mile from Michigan Stadium for a year, and that was WAY too much for me), but I would definitely bring a big plate of these guys to a party! Or, more realistically, eat them all at the kitchen table while quietly & un-sportily reading a book. 🙂 Tomatoes and cheese on toast are just one of those perfect combinations.
Yum! As a Jersey girl I’m crazy about tomatoes (in case you don’t know it out there, we’re famous for our tomatoes). My mom just made this bruschetta recipe from Ina Garten that involved whipped feta topped with a tomato salad. It was heaven.
Uh… what’s a tailgate? Is it like a pot luck? In Australia we only use ‘tailgate’ in reference to driving to close to the car in front of you, haha. Anyway, regardless of what a tailgate may be… these bruschetta sound delicious! I love heirloom tomatoes. So yummy… this recipe definitely makes them shine. Thanks lovely! xx