cruschette

I shouldn't be trusted with italian cooking

Introduction

In a feverish attempt to charm someone with a starter I decided to combine bruscetta and a caprese salad. Don’t tell my italian friends.

Equipment

  • One non-stick pan.
  • Sharpish knife.

Ingredients

  • Large lump of fresh mozzarella
  • Salt
  • Balsamic glaze
  • Big fresh tomato
  • Rocket lettuce
  • Small fresh ciabatta
  • Olive oil

Notes

This is a small plate, that small ciabatta will probably serve 4 people, or two people twice if you’re that hungry. Feel free to exchange the balsamic glaze with balsamic vinegar. It’ll be a little more messy but if you’re a fan of a more sour flavour it’s worth the hassle.

Recipe

  1. Do a flat cut down the middle of the ciabatta as if you were making a sandwich and needed some space to add filling. Feel free to lean heavier to one side and just take the top crust off if you want a breadier more filling starter. After this, cut vertically in half down the middle to make two pieces.
  2. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large non-stick pan, medium-low heat, you dont want to burn anything. When it shimmers and runs a little slicker, place your ciabatta slices face down into the pan. Give them a good swirl to pick up some oil and push them down every now and them to make sure they toast neatly.
  3. While the bread is toasting you want to start on the mozarella and tomatoes. Cut the mozarella ball into coins about 3/4 cm thick, all the way through. Then do the same with your tomato, again about 3/4 of a centimetre thick. Then, cut the full round tomato slices in half. Try to cut parallel through the septa. Septa is the flesh that divides the chambers of the tomato where all the seeds are held. Email me if you already knew what a septa was. I’ll call you a liar.
  4. Now you’ve got some nice golden-brown fried and toasted bread, you want to take two of your half tomatos and of your almost semi-circular mozzarella coins. The mozarrella is less rigid than the tomato, when you cut the ball it should take the right shape. Stack them up on the top of your bread, remembering to sprinkle a little salt into each slice of tomato.
  5. Add a quick drizzle of balsamic glaze, a little grouping of rocket lettuce, and another quick drizzle of the glaze.
  6. Serve on a small plate because that’s what people like.