An Italian appetizer made with fresh tomatoes and basil then served on bread. I like to make small crackers/biscuits using a Pain Oriental bread recipe. You want to make sure you use fresh ingredients and high quality olive oil, but with that this is an easy appetizer to make.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 5 cloves fresh garlic – finely minced
- 7 Roma tomatoes – seeded and diced
- 1/4 cup Fresh basil – chiffonade (cut in ribbons)
- 2 TBL red onion – finely minced
- 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1 TBL balsamic or red wine vinegar – or more to taste
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt – more later to taste
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 12 Pieces of Bread or crackers – Can use French bread sliced into 1/2-inch thick slices toasted with garlic and olive oil or Pain Oriental bread/crackers baked into oval disks (slice in half and serve fresh)
Process
- Mise en Place – measure and prepare ingredients prior to starting. See my preparation tips page regarding how to prepare the ingredients.
- Stir tomatoes, basil, 3 tablespoons olive oil, red onion, garlic, vinegar, and pepper together in a bowl. Let mixture stand at room temperature for 15 minutes, then place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 45 minutes.
- Prepare bread/crackers: Should be made a day in advance
- If using bread; brush one side of each slice of bread with remaining olive oil. Place bread slices, oiled-side-up, onto a baking sheet. Broil until golden brown, ~2 mins.
- If using pain Oriental crackers/biscuits; cut the oval crackers in half, they should render two shallow bowls that can be filled with the tomato mix. While you can toast these, I usually serve untoasted.
- Spoon tomato mixture evenly over the top of bread/cracker slices; drizzle balsamic vinegar evenly over tomato mixture. Serve immediately. You can lightly sprinkle with dried oregano leafs/flakes and/or garlic salt if you’re into that sort of thing.
