Garlic Bread Bruschetta 8 servings 30 min prep time 35 min total time Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Your Name* Your Email* Your Friend's Email* Two favorite appetizers join forces in this garlic bread bruschetta, made extra pretty with a rainbow of heirloom tomatoes ripe for casual entertaining. Ingredientsgarlic bread8 tablespoons Vermont Creamery Sea Salt Cultured Butter- 82% Butterfat softened 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and put through a press 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes a few turns of black pepper sea salt, if needed 1 pound crusty bread, sliced a scant 1/2 inch thick on the diagonal bruschetta topping1 pound ripe tomatoes, such as dry farmed early girls, heirlooms or a combination 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil handful basil leaves, slivered and/or fresh oregano or marjoram to taste 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt splash balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction for drizzling Vermont Creamery Crumbled Goat Cheese for sprinkling, optional Directions STEP 1 Garlic bread: Preheat the broiler. STEP 2 In a medium bowl, stir together the softened butter, garlic, oregano, chili flakes, and pepper. Taste, adding more salt if you like. STEP 3 Smear each bread slice with garlic butter and place on a baking sheet. Toast under the broiler until golden and crisp. This can take anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes depending on your broiler strength and positioning and bread heartiness. STEP 4 The garlic toasts are best freshly toasted but can be made an hour or two ahead if need be. STEP 5 Bruschetta topping: Rinse and dry the tomatoes. Using a small, sharp, preferably serrated knife, cut each tomato in half around the circumference. Place a strainer over a bowl and gently squeeze the seeds and juice of each tomato half into the strainer. I like to save the juice for drinking-a treat for the chef. Discard the seeds. STEP 6 Dice the seeded tomatoes into scant 1/2 inch cubes and place in a medium bowl. Alternatively if you're going for the rainbow effect shown here, put the diced tomatoes in individual bowls by color. Add the olive oil, herbs, salt, and vinegar, and toss gently. Taste, adding more of any ingredient you like. STEP 7 This mixture can also be made up to an hour or two ahead. Note that the tomatoes will continue to drop more juices as they sit. STEP 8 When ready to serve, top each garlic toast with a spoonful of tomatoes, a drizzle of balsamic reduction, and a sprinkle of goat cheese if using. The garlic bread bruschetta is best served right away but it will hold for an hour or two. The Bojon Gourmet The Bojon Gourmet Alanna Taylor-Tobin is a recovering pastry chef-turned food photographer, videographer, and award-winning cookbook author. For over a decade she has developed and shared gluten-free, vegetarian recipes on her blog The Bojon Gourmet, where she continues to delve into the hypothesis that butter makes everything better. Find more delicious desserts in her book Alternative Baker: Reinventing Dessert with Gluten-Free Grains and Flours and at The Bojon Gourmet. Related Recipes The Great Escape: Runaway American Cheese Assorted Whipped Goat Cheese Filo Tarts Goat Cheese and Mushroom Asparagus Tart Kale Caesar Salad Herb Marinated Goat Cheese Stonecutter Gin Rickey