- November 25, 2024
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Balsamic Bruschetta
What you need:
8 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 loaf French bread, toasted and sliced
What to do:
In a bowl, toss together the tomatoes, basil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. Mix in the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. Serve on toasted bread slices.
Recently, a group of my friends and coworkers have made a weekend tradition of getting together for food.
The cookout scene was starting to get boring, not to mention all the rain that has been pouring down lately, so we decided to do something new: a progressive dinner. My youth group had them when i was growing up. We got to go from house to house, and everyone’s parents made different dishes.
This time it was different; we were the ones doing the cooking.
I was in charge of the appetizer. Since I am still not 100% mobile (knee injury), I chose something that required little shopping and was easy to put together: bruschetta.
I underestimated how difficult it would be to make bruschetta.
I gathered my produce at the table, chopped/diced my tomatoes, basil and garlic, mixed it with Parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and added sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste. Then all that was left was to slice and toast my French bread.
It was so simple.
I packed the bread and topping and headed down the street to the designated pre-entrée dish apartment.
The bruschetta was a hit. But it is hard for me to tell if it was a really awesome appetizer, or if everyone loved it so much because we had all been fasting from eating in preparation for the six-hour feast we were about to have.
After my awesome app., the crew moved on to the salad. This was no ordinary salad. M.C. really outdid himself with the off-the-wall ingredients of artichoke hearts and kidney beans — things I would have never thought of, but worked surprisingly well together.
The salad course was followed up by yet another pre-entrée dish, Italian wedding soup.
A few hours passed, and once everyone felt up to walking, so the group traveled to the host entrée apartment for chicken Parmesan.
And the cycle started again. Eat, chat, settle and move to the next apartment.
By the time we made it to the dessert apartment, my favorite part of any meal, it was well after my eating cutoff time. But that didn’t stop me, or anyone else in the group.
The girls had prepared for us a true Italian dessert, tiramisu and homemade chocolate gelato.
I think progressive dinners may be making a comeback.
