Bruschetta

Bruschetta is a thick slice of rustic bread, grilled or toasted, rubbed with raw garlic and drizzled with olive oil. In Italy that alone counts as bruschetta. The best-known version adds a topping of chopped tomato, basil, salt and oil. It is said "broo-SKET-ta".

How to do it

1. Cut a firm country loaf into slices about 1.5 cm (½ inch) thick. Day-old bread works well.
2. Grill or toast the slices over high heat until both sides are crisp with dark marks, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
3. While the bread is hot, rub one side with a cut clove of garlic. The rough surface grates it like a file.
4. Drizzle with good olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
5. For the tomato topping, dice ripe tomatoes, mix with torn basil, salt and olive oil, and let it sit 10 minutes. Drain off extra juice before spooning it on.
6. Top just before serving.

How to tell it is done

The bread is crunchy on the outside but still a little soft in the middle. The edges are dark brown in spots but not burned through.

Common mistakes

• Using soft sandwich bread. It goes limp under the topping.
• Topping it too early. The juice soaks in and the toast turns soggy within minutes.
• Using cold, pale tomatoes. The dish has few ingredients, so each one shows.
• Skipping salt on the tomatoes. They taste flat without it.

In recipes

"Bruschetta" on a menu often means the tomato topping alone, sold in jars or spooned onto any toast. In a recipe it usually means the whole thing: bread plus topping. Other toppings include white beans, mushrooms, or chopped greens. It is served as part of an antipasto or as a snack.

Crostini are similar, but they are smaller, thinner, and made from a narrow loaf, so they hold up for a party.

Where it comes from

Bruschetta comes from central Italy, where olive growers toasted bread to taste fresh oil after the harvest.