Now that you’ve made the ciabatta from yesterday, all you need are juicy sweet tomatoes. These are the tomatoes I picked up after lunch at the Love Dove Farm stall at the Howard County Farmers Market. Aren’t they just gorgeous? I grabbed a pint of Sun Gold tomatoes and a pint of Black Cherry tomatoes. I could snack on them all day.
Farm stalls are overflowing with all different tomato heirlooms and varieties during the summer. Once you’ve tried fresh picked tomatoes off the vine, the ones you find year round in the supermarkets won’t do. It’s hard for me not to pick up a pint or two when I’m out at the farmers market. When using such delicious produce like farm fresh tomatoes, it’s best to keep whatever dish you’re making as simple as possible. You want the natural sweetness and bright flavors to shine. A great dish to show off summer tomatoes is Bruschetta. Here are a few different ways I dress my tomatoes.
Bruschetta #1. Black Cherry tomatoes have a slightly sweet and mild earthy flavor. They were double the size of the Sun Gold tomatoes I brought home, so I cut them into quarters. I used about 15 tomatoes, half a clove of garlic (grated), 5 leaves of basil (finely chopped), some really good extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Add all the ingredients into a bowl, toss it together and give it a taste. Adjust seasoning as needed. The beautiful juices of the tomatoes and the olive oil created an amazing dressing.
Bruschetta #2 and #3. Sun Gold tomatoes are sweet, tart, tangy and quite fruity. The farm stall had pints of Sun Gold tomatoes that were similar in size to the Black Cherry tomatoes but I chose a pint of tomatoes that were half that size. I find that the smaller ones have an even sweeter taste. I love these bright little yellowy orange guys! For one bruschetta, I simply sliced the tomatoes in half, drizzled some good extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper. The tomatoes were so sweet, you didn’t need to do much with them. Then for another bruschetta, I did the same thing but added a splash of red wine vinegar at the end. The sharpness of the red wine vinegar mixed with sweet tomato juices and really good fruity olive oil make a killer vinaigrette. That’s 3 different bruschette, in probably under 2 minutes.
Time to assemble the bruschetta. The ciabatta slices look fantastic, don’t they?! I can’t believe I baked it in my own kitchen oven! I toasted the slices for a few minutes to give it an extra crispy crunch, then topped each slice generously with the seasoned tomatoes.
Tomatoes make me think of Italy, but cherry tomatoes in the summer make me think of Ireland. In Ireland, whenever we felt a little peckish, we’d butter some Jacob’s cream crackers, top them with cherry tomatoes, cut in half, with a tiny pinch of sea salt. Yum. So simple, so tasty. Irish bruschetta?! 😉 Kevin’s parents grow their own tomatoes and during the summer, they’d always have bowls full of sweet cherry tomatoes on the kitchen counter for us to eat. His father often walked down the road with a few handful of tomatoes to share with his neighbors. One day, we’ll have a garden, grow our own tomatoes and share them with our neighbors, right Kevin?
Bruschetta is great as a snack, for brunch, lunch or as a light dinner. Try out my easy peasy recipes for delicious tomato bruschetta and let me know what you think. I love reading your comments so leave me a message below. Visit me on facebook and twitter and don’t forget to subscribe to the blog. Happy Eating!
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