bruschetta x 3

Still on our bruschetta kick over here in Iron Stef kitchen stadium, we went a little crazy and made 3!! count 'em 3 different bruschettas for our dinner.


I made a normal 'ol tomato-based bruschetta.

For this I chopped up a carton of grape tomatoes and added 3 fresh garlic cloves, minced, a handful of fresh basil, julienned, a handful of capers, some salt, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. That's it. It was fresh tasting, but spicy from the raw garlic, and a little sweet from the balsamic. The capers added a certain salty depth to the sharp freshness of the basil, garlic and tomatoes.

Jack made the other two. First was a mushroom sage bruschetta topping.

He chopped up a small carton of regular button mushrooms, and sauteed them in about a tablespoon of butter and some olive oil, with a small handful of fresh sage leaves, chopped fine and some salt. This combination of flavors was fantastic. Earthy and rich.

For the next bruschetta topping, Jack veered away from veggies completely. It was a ricotta pine-nut spread.

To make this one, we toasted about a cup of pine nuts in a dry skillet until they were nicely brown. These got a few pulses in a small food processor until they were a coarse powder. Add the pine nuts to about 3/4 a container of ricotta cheese, and season with salt and white pepper. This, my friends, was unbelievable. So tasty. It will become a regular party spread, methinks. Jack said it might also make a wonderful sweet filling for canollis, if we added some nutmeg and sugar instead of salt and white pepper. I agree. Nutty, creamy...yes.

As you can see, we love topping bread with all manner of combos. I can't wait to try more. Any ideas?