Bruschetta

AUTHENTIC, no kidding, ITALIAN bruschetta - you must pronounce it with an Italian accent or it will suck: BRrrrOOOOOO-sketta 


 Ingredients: Loaf of Italian or French bread, garlic, GOOD tomatoes (not fake, not canned, not grown in a factory), bunch of basil, olive oil, kosher salt. optional: balsamic vinegar.


  You need a grill BUT this can be done without...won't be as good, but don't fret if your grill is cold and covered with last night's nasty fish that stuck and there are flies all over... So, if you have a grill, preheat it. If you're opting for a no-salmonella-evening, preheat your broiler.


 Chop up your beautiful tomatoes into little pieces - the smaller the better. Get a ceramic or glass bowl. Take a good sized piece of garlic and smash it a bit to get the skin off. Rub the smashed bit all over the inside of the bowl. (At this moment in time, start singing an opera or make one up-loudly). 


throw the cut up tomatoes into the garlic-scented bowl. Scrunch up your bunch of basil and slice thinly.  Add that then add a little kosher salt. stir around.


NOTE: some people like a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar in the tomatoes - be brave and experiment.


 Slice the bread long way into 4 good sized pieces and grill or broil the cut side until toasty. note: if you get distracted or get carried away with your Italian singing you could possibly burn your bread which would be a VERY VERY bad thing since you probably didn't get 2 loaves so DON'T GET DISTRACTED. FOCUS. 


 Now, take your toasty bread pieces and rub each piece vigorously with a piece of garlic (no skin). It will melt into the bread nicely. Sprinkle each piece with about a tablespoon of olive oil, then lightly sprinkle with kosher salt. (At this point you could top the bread with just about anything: olives, mushrooms, beans, oatmeal, leftover tuna casserole; it is still technically bruschetta.)  But best topped with tomatoes; make sure you have lots of napkins, and MANGIA!