Italian Style Sugar Drop Tomato Bruschetta

This is a great little snack for when you’re hungry and want to reminisce of brunching on a sunny holiday or even as a starter to a three course meal. Thick slices of grilled ciabatta bread drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, rubbed with a fresh cloves of garlic and a sprinkle of sea salt. All topped with with sweet, juicy sugar drop tomatoes marinated with olive oil, lemon juice, grated fresh garlic, chopped parsley and thyme and sprinkled with a pinch of salt and good few turns of the pepper mill scattering aromatic crushed pepper into the mix.

What I love about this recipe is that not only is it so simple to make but you can tweak the topping to your desire… perfect for someone like me that finds sticking to the recipe a real task.

Truffle obsession

As I was making this the other day, I, (as usual) went routing through the cupboards and stumbled upon some tasty, edible Christmas gifts, which consisted of lots of truffle related goodies! I cannot resist truffle ANYTHING, which is why I try and hide them out of the way. I got to one point where I was going through a bottle of finest truffle oil a month, I was becoming obsessed with the luxurious earthy flavour of those delicious ‘mushroomy’ morsels… it was time to reign it in… but then I reached this out of the cupboard.

Black truffle pate! Heaven in a jar!! There was no way this was going back in the cupboard without being opened. So I slathered a good dollop of this delicious paste on onto the garlic and oil drizzled toasted ciabatta and loaded it with the marinated tomatoes. Wow! it really was delicious.

However I did save some paste and  topped some of the toasted ciabatta with the tomato mix only and it’s equally delicious. One big tip I have is to save the marinating liquid. Once you mix all of the ingredients with the tomatoes and allow to steep, you will find you have a flavoursome liquid that is just great to dunk your bread in. I highly recommend it.

I know it’s not the prettiest to look at, I’ll be honest I just dunked straight into the bowl, however, if you wish you can strain the juice and place in a bowl and use as a dipping juice. You get such a fresh, clean tomato-ey flavour that packs punch with the garlic, lemon juice, shallots and herbs. Just divine!

So there you have it, a delicious snack or starter that can be whipped up super quick. This is a perfect starter for a home-made Valentine’s meal. It can be prepped ahead of time, looks impressive and hardly any washing up, leaving more time to enjoy the evening with your loved one.

Variations

As I mentioned you can be as creative or as simple as you wish with this kind of snack/starter. I love the classic tomato bruschetta, but there are some other ideas for you to try:

1. Simply add a drizzle of balsamic glaze and a few shavings of hard cheese like Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano to the recipe above to really pep it up.
2. Try using different herbs and textures, like a few finely shaven pieces of fennel or asparagus with chopped tarragon, basil or even chili with the tomato mix.
3. Mushroom medley. Saute a mixture of different chopped mushrooms in oil, garlic, chopped shallot and parsley and finish off with a drizzle of… of course you guessed it, truffle oil!
4. Smother toasted Ciabatta with soft goats cheese and top with chopped chargrilled marinated peppers and balsamic caramelised red onions for a mouthful of flavour
5. Crush up fresh avocado and top with crispy grilled Parma ham and finely sliced asparagus that has been griddled.

The Recipe

Italian style Sugar Drop Tomato Bruschetta

February 12, 2019

Servings: 4-6

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 5 min

Total: 15 min

Difficulty: Easy

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A quick and healthy snack bursting with Italian flavours

By: Season2k

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of Ciabatta
• 2 punnets of Sugar Drop tomatoes (other varieties can be used)
• Olive oil
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• Juice of half a lemon
• Large handful of chopped fresh parsley
• Dried (or fresh) thyme
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Step 1 Chop tomatoes into quarters and place in a bowl
• Step 2 Finely chop one clove of garlic and add to the tomatoes along with the chopped shallot, parsley and thyme
• Step 3 Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and pepper
• Step 4 Mix well and allow to marinate for 10-15 minutes
• Step 5 Whilst marinating, cut Ciabatta into thick (half inch) slices and toast until crisp
• Step 6 Whilst still warm, drizzle the Ciabatta slices with olive and rub the bread with a garlic olive cut in half
• Step 7 Using a slotted spoon, tumble on the marinated tomatoes reserving the marinating liquid for dipping