Shortcut Bruschetta

Alright.  It's probably on the Blogroll ten deadly sins to repeat a recipe, especially directly after itself; but I wanted to let you all in on the shortcut recipe for bruschetta I worked up tonight.  Hubby is working a 48 hour marathon shift, so it's just the kids and I, but I had a mean craving for bruschetta.  Usually (as noted in the previous post) bruschetta is a lot of work.  Chopping, mixing, blanching, seeding, mixing, chilling...more work than I'm going to do just for myself, and the kids certainly aren't going to touch this with a ten foot pole.  I checked out the canned versions at the grocery store but couldn't bring myself to do it. Sooo...here it is SHORTCUT BRUSCHETTA. 


PS.  It turned out pretty good.  The texture wasn't as great as the diced version, but the flavor was amazing.

1) Start with a fresh baguette.  Instead of slicing it on the diagonal at home, have the baker slice it into 3/8 inch slices for you (or whatever thickness you like, 3/8 works really well for me.)

2) Instead of blanching, seeding, and dicing fresh tomatoes, pick up GOOD canned tomatoes.  I use imported San Marzano tomatoes if I have to use canned.  THIS IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT in your dish so splurge a little.

3) Pick up basil, or pick some from the garden. I used 15-20 good sized leaves.

4) Throw it all in the food processor with some pre-minced garlic, sea salt and GOOD olive oil (again, it all comes down to good ingredients.  The better food you start with the better food you end with!)

5) Feed the kids Chinese take out. Open a bottle of white zinfendel grudgingly because you forgot it was Sunday and all the liquor stores close at 6, therefore having to raid the wine rack at home when you really wanted Pinot Noir.

6) While the kids are eating take out, heat the oven to 450.  Drizzle the sliced bread with olive oil, and bake for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown and yummy looking.

7) PUT THE KIDS TO BED. 

8) Snarf it. Die over the fact that this is crazy good.  Pat yourself on the back and remind yourself that it is SOOO worth cooking for one sometimes, especially when its this easy.