Name: The Best Bruschetta
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1.5 lb (about 4 medium) ripe tomatoes; 1 tsp, plus more to taste kosher salt; 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn; 3 tbsp, plus more for drizzling extra-virgin olive oil; 3 garlic cloves; 1 small, sliced 1/2-inch thick rustic Italian or sourdough loaf; a pinch, for finishing flaky sea salt; a few drops balsamic vinegar (optional)

The Best Bruschetta

Prep

10m

Cook

Total

15m

Bigly says

We need to talk about bruschetta. THE BEST bruschetta. And before we go any further, we need to talk about the name. It's not 'broo-SHETTA.' It's 'broo-SKETTA.' With a K. That's how the Italians say it, and the Italians invented it, so they get to decide. An old Italian woman cornered me once in a tiny piazza outside Bologna and made me promise to pronounce it correctly for the rest of my life — and I have kept that promise, every single day, while other so-called food writers spell it right and pronounce it wrong, which is the WORST kind of betrayal. Sad. Truly sad.

Bruschetta is the simplest dish on this entire site. Simplest. But simple is not the same as easy. Simple is HARDER than complicated, because when you only have four ingredients, every single ingredient has to be PERFECT. The tomato has to be ripe — and I mean RIPE, the kind of ripe where the tomato is almost embarrassed to be that ripe, where you press it and it goes 'oh no, please,' that's the right tomato. The bread has to be GOOD. Not the sad sliced sandwich loaf, not a sad baguette from a sad grocery store, a real rustic Italian loaf with a crust that fights back. The garlic has to be fresh. The olive oil has to be the good stuff. If your chef tells you otherwise, find a new chef.

And then you put it together and it tastes like SUMMER. Like the BEST summer you've ever had. People will eat one piece, they'll close their eyes, they'll forget their own name for two seconds, they'll come back and they'll say, 'Bigly, the bruschetta, what is this, what have you done.' I tell them: I gave you summer on toast. Plain and simple. It's just a fact.

Ingredients

1.5 lb (about 4 medium)ripe tomatoes(in-season only, never the sad winter tomatoes)
1 tsp, plus more to tastekosher salt
1/4 cupfresh basil leaves, torn
3 tbsp, plus more for drizzlingextra-virgin olive oil(the good bottle, today is its day)
3garlic cloves(one for the tomatoes, two whole for rubbing)
1 small, sliced 1/2-inch thickrustic Italian or sourdough loaf(8-10 slices, crusty exterior, open crumb)
a pinch, for finishingflaky sea salt
a few dropsbalsamic vinegar (optional)(optional and controversial — the purists say no)

Steps

1
Core the tomatoes and dice them into 1/4-inch pieces. Transfer to a colander set over a bowl. Toss with 1 tsp kosher salt and let drain 15 minutes (this concentrates flavor and keeps the toast from going soggy).
2
Meanwhile, mince 1 clove of garlic finely.
3
Transfer drained tomatoes to a bowl. Add minced garlic, torn basil, and 3 tbsp olive oil. Toss gently and taste — adjust salt as needed.
4
Heat a grill, grill pan, or oven broiler. Toast the bread slices until lightly charred on both sides and crisp at the edges, 1-2 minutes per side.
5
While the toast is still hot, rub one side of each slice firmly with a whole peeled garlic clove. The hot bread shreds the garlic into the surface.
6
Drizzle each toast with a thin stream of olive oil.
7
Spoon the tomato mixture generously onto each toast. Don't be shy — pile it on.
8
Finish with a few drops of balsamic if using, flaky sea salt, and one more thread of olive oil. Serve immediately.

One more thing

Ten minutes. Four ingredients. A piece of toast that will make your guests stop talking mid-sentence and stare at the plate. Bruschetta is what happens when you stop trying to be fancy and start respecting the ingredients. Buy the best tomato you can find. Buy the best bread. Buy the best olive oil. Spend the extra few dollars. Your bruschetta deserves it, your guests deserve it, the tomato deserves it — that tomato grew all summer for THIS moment, don't let it down. It's a beautiful thing.