Recipes

[Carol1229]

The start of the regular football season is always greatly anticipated here. We're BIG New England Patriots fans and can't wait for the first game of the year.

Depending on what time kick off is, I like to have a snack planned for an early game since we eat a big breakfast and usually don't have a big lunch on Sundays OR try and make something in the crock pot or a dish that can be assembled ahead of time if we're playing the 4:30 game.

Since the Pats kicked off at 1:00 on Sunday-AND since I've suddenly amassed a slew of ripe tomatoes......Bruschetta was the perfect thing to make for us to have during the game.

I make Bruschetta a lot of different ways-not with a recipe-usually by eyeballing ingredients. The topping is pretty much the same-tomatoes, "pasted" garlic so we're not biting into any pieces of it, finely minced onion, a little kosher salt, a few cracks of black pepper, fresh parsley and fresh basil. Sometimes I add a splash of balsamic vinegar and a touch of extra virgin olive oil but not always. It depends on how the tomatoes are that I have on hand.

This time however, I spun it a little differently......there's really no "recipe".....more like a "method", which I'll try and describe.........


First the bread......I always grab the bag of Roasted Red Pepper and Fennel rolls from the day old bread shelf at the grocery store when they have them. Not only does this bread make great little toasted slices to have with soup or pasta......it's PERFECT for Bruschetta. I used 2 rolls, sliced the slices about 1/2-3/4-inch thick, then lightly brushed each side with a garlic infused extra virgin olive oil I got at the Christmas Tree Shop last week. Into a 350 degree oven they went until toasted on both sides. Any crusty bread will work wonderfully for Bruschetta-the long French Sticks work great.

Immediately upon removing the toasted slices from the oven, I used a clove of fresh garlic to lightly rub each side of the bread, adding another touch of garlic flavor.

Bob loves the Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb cheese wedges, so those have become a new "staple" in the refrigerator. Hmmmmmmm-why not add a light "shmear" of the soft cheese to perch the tomato mixture on? That's just what I did-3 wedges of the cheese was the perfect amount for the 12 slices of bread.

I used my fresh picked heirloom tomatoes, a red, pink, yellow and green one, seeded them and chopped some of each up. I added 2 small cloves crushed garlic, about 1/8-1/4 c. finely minced red onion, a touch of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, then chopped some fresh picked Italian parsley and took 3-4 fresh basil leaves, stacked them on top of each other, gave them a tight roll and thinly sliced them into basil "ribbons....gave them a few chops and into the tomato mixture they went.

I wanted the tomato flavor to come through so didn't add any extra virgin olive oil or balsamic vinegar this time. What I DID add was a light shredding of Pecorino Romano cheese to the top of each slice.

Did we enjoy these? YOU BET we did! I love the heirloom tomatoes-not only are they pretty but each one has its own unique "taste." We really liked the addition of the soft and creamy cheese on the bread too.....MMMMMmmmm.

We had more than enough to enjoy during the game and some left over to stash in the refrigerator to enjoy for lunch yesterday.

We'll be enjoying these on football Sundays as long as the garden wants to give us fresh tomatoes....and by the looks of the collection on the table-we'll be having these a lot!

Carol