As soon as my loaves of French bread came out of the oven, our dinner plans changed. I don’t even remember what I had been planning to make that night, but when I saw (and smelled, and tasted) these beauties, I knew they needed to be enjoyed right away. With some tomatoes in the fridge and my basil plants booming in the backyard, it took next to no time to decide on making a tomato basil bruschetta.
Many people think that bruschetta means exactly this – baguette slices topped with a tomato basil mixture, because that is how it is commonly served here in the US. Actually, bruschetta is the base of the toasted baguette slices and they can be topped any number of ways. Typically I brush the slices lightly with olive oil, rub with a cut clove of garlic, and then top them as I please. This time around I just left the baguette slices fresh because, well, they are delicious that way too. This has long been one of my favorite snack foods or appetizers, and it also made for a fantastic light dinner.
