Tomato And Fresh Mozzarella Bruschetta

Ingredients:

4 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
4 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 cup fresh Mozzarella cheese, finely chopped
2 tablespoons red wine or balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices toasted Italian bread


Preparation:

  • In a large bowl combine tomatoes, onion, capers, basil and fresh Mozzarella.
  • Stir in vinegar and olive oil.  Toast the bread.
  • Season with salt and pepper.
  • Top toasted bread with the mixture and place on baking sheet.
  • Broil until cheese melts.
  • Serve hot with your favorite salad or as hot appetizer.

Makes 2-4 servings.

Dairy free alternative: Substitute 1 cup canned small white beans for cheese and just top toasts with mixture.

Note: If you don't have fresh Mozzarella cheese you can use feta cheese or regular Mozzarella cheese, just don't use salt in that case.


Real Cooking
Did You Know?
Bread made with barley, oats, or millet was always ranked as coarse food, to which the poor only had recourse in years of want. Barley bread was, besides, used as a kind of punishment, and monks who had committed any serious offence against discipline were condemned to live on it for a certain period.

An ancient chronicle of the time of Charlemagne makes mention of a bread twice baked, or biscuit. This bread was very hard, and easier to keep than any other description. It was also used, for provisioning ships, or towns threatened with a siege, as well as in religious houses. At a later period, delicate biscuits were made of a sort of dry and crumbling pastry which retained the original name.