Char-grilled Tomato Bruschetta

Tomatoes burst into the limelight in the summer season. You can see the carnival of rich colours, shapes and sizes at the farmers market, ready to be picked and brought home. I wanted to showcase this season’s tomatoes in my Char-grilled Tomato Bruschetta with buffalo mozzarella and an oregano and basil pesto.

The colours are so fresh and vibrant in the glistening tomatoes. These char-grilled tomato bruschetta are great as a starter or the main show with a salad or on a charcuterie board. We ended up devouring these for our lunch post-shoot and were quite happy with that.

I love using fresh sourdough or a french loaf in this recipe. Try to rub garlic on the slices before grilling up, infusing them with that amazing flavour. It just smells so good, you can’t wait to complete the dish.

Use whatever tomatoes you can find in season, even just slicing up heirloom tomatoes if you want. But I prefer the char-grill on mine, adds a nice depth to it. I stick the tomatoes on metal skewers to make it easier to handle on the grill.

Also, I decided to use oregano and basil in my pesto. Go ahead and keep it classic with just basil. Or go with dill or any other herbs you have on hand. The pesto just adds a nice herby, element to the bite. If you want to omit it all together, you could just drizzle it with olive oil or even balsamic vinegar.

One thing I found hard about making these bruschetta was trying not to eat all the cheese before I plated them. That was a true test to my willpower! Especially when I use burrata, I just want to spread that on the bread and eat it right there and then. Now you know what my weakness is haha. Bread and cheese!

Finally, pair it with my Classic Negroni cocktail if you want to keep within the Italian theme. You could even try my Crostini Three Ways recipe from last year. Essentially it’s using up pantry staples to make some delicious bites.

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Char-grilled Tomato Bruschetta

A delicious way to showcase the amazing tomatoes in summer. Topped with a fresh pesto and paired with buffalo mozzarella, this dish will please a crowd.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Bruschetta, Italian Appetizer, Tomato Bruschetta

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

• Slices of sourdough or french bread
• Extra virgin olive oil for brushing
• Heirloom cherry tomatoes
• Buffalo mozzarella or burrata
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp freshly chopped chives
• 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat your BBQ to high heat. You can also use a char-grill pan on a stove top.
2. Make the pesto: Place the oregano, basil, chives, parmesan, oil, salt and pepper in a small food processor. Process and set aside.
3. Lightly brush both sides of the bread slices with oil and garlic and cook on each side until charred. Set aside.
4. Thread the tomatoes onto metal skewers. Brush them with oil and cook until charred and blistered.
5. Top the toast with the mozzarella, tomatoes, pesto and extra basil leaves. Crack fresh pepper and sea salt on top. Sprinkle some olive oil over the bruschetta.
6. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Adjust the pesto to the amount of people you are serving.

All photos taken by Pulp Photo, a local Vancouver duo.

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