Receta Tomato Bruschetta with Balsamic Reduction
Tomato Bruschetta with Balsamic Reduction
Even after my long long run this weekend, and my sweet little migraine that doesn't seem to 'get the hint', I still found time to do lots of lovely cooking this weekend! The tomato bruschetta and balsamic reduction was courtesy of my Saturday night insomnia... I went downstairs to be productive watch some Food Network and got caught up with my good old buddy, Bobby Flay. I didn't catch if it was his show or the other guy's show... I kind of woke up in the middle of it. And the sound was off. Luckily for food, you don't need sound to get the gist (jist?) of what's going on.
So Bobby and this other guy were out back cooking up some goods for some kind of 'man q' type of deal. The one guy was in charge of drinks... all I caught was it had a starfruit that had been pan seared on the grill... It looked to be some sort of iced tea. Hopefully it had vodka or something in it but again, didn't catch that.
But I did catch Bobby. Probably because the bruschetta looked delish, even that early in the morning; mostly because I might have a slightly small, eensy weensy bit of a crush on Bobby. I'm just saying.
So the bruschetta, it was so simple! And I may have missed some of his ingredients because the sound was off but here is what I did and it was delicious. Thanks Bobby and other guy... insomnia has never been so lovely.
Need:
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced (see below)
- About 15 or 20 fresh cherry tomatoes, halved, or quartered if they're really big (I picked mine from my garden, in the rain!)
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 small clove garlic, diced fine (if it's a big clove, just use half
- Salt and pepper
- 1 loaf french bread
- Extra virgin olive oil
Do:
Put balsamic vinegar in a small pot and reduce on low/med heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it and stir every once in a while.
Note: it will not be 'thick' when you turn the heat off, but as you let it sit you will notice it will thicken up.
Add'l note: you can also buy balsamic vinegar reduction... but doing it yourself really is easy :)
Combine tomatoes and green onion in a bowl and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper, stir again and set aside so the flavors can combine.
Heat your grill or grill pan (I used my panini press)
Slice bread at an angle into about 1/2 inch thick pieces then drizzle one side with a little olive oil.
Put bread slices, olive oil side down onto your med hot grill or grill pan then drizzle the other side of the bread (the one facing up) with more olive oil.
Cook the first side so you get those awesome grill marks then flip and do the same on the other side.
When done, transfer to a plate and get your tomato/green onion mix and balsamic reduction.
Serve:
To put the bruschetta together, spoon the tomato mixture onto each toast then, using a spoon, drizzle balsamic reduction on top.
It's that simple, super flavorful and easy to make. This would also be a great 'make ahead' appetizer for a party OR a side to a main dish.
Update: In my total obsessive compulsive way, I couldn't just 'let it go' that I didn't know which Bobby Flay show or episode I was watching so I hit up my good old friend Google and figured it out... it was 'Grill it with Bobby Flay' and the real bruschetta recipe was Crostinin with Mascarpone, Grilled Scallion Tomato and Balsamic Glaze... apparently there WAS more to it than what I did... Either way mine was delicious too!
Enjoy!