I made a lot of bruschetta over the summer as I had an abundance of tomatoes from the garden. It’s a great base for dressing up, or down: add leftover chicken to make it a meal, sprinkle cheese to make it hardy and turn day-old bread into a truly yummy treat!

Caramelized Onion & Pesto

Bruschetta

Fresh, fast and delicious! Bruschetta is a perennial favorite!

preparation

• Mix oil and garlic in a small bowl
• Brush bread with olive oil and garlic paste mixture
• In a small fry pan, cook onions with butter and salt over low heat, covering for 3-5 minutes to sweat, before removing cover. Cook down the onions until they are a rich brown: this should take about 10 minutes
• In a blender process the tomatoes and pepper until they are still a bit chunky; add the tomato mixture to the onions and cook down for 10 minutes over medium-low heat to allow the flavors to blend
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees; place oiled bread on a baking sheet and toast for about 5 minutes, until the bread is slightly browned. Be careful not to let it burn!
• Spread pesto on toasted bread, add a generous layer of the tomato mixture
• Toast for ~5 minutes until the edges are crispy
• If desired, you can add cheese, leftover chicken, or beef and a drizzle of balsamic glaze

ingredients

• 6-8 pieces of thickly sliced bread (Italian, French, or Sourdough are good choices)
• 6 medium tomatoes, or 20-25 cherry tomatoes
• 1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
• 4-5 tablespoons pesto
• 1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 tbs garlic paste