Let’s clear one thing up before we go any further. Bruschetta is pronounced like this: Broos-ketta. You say it with a hard C. I know it’s very Seinfeldian of me to be peevish over such a thing, but it drives me crazy!—especially when I hear waiters at really nice Italian restaurants saying brooshetta. No and no. If you want to pronounce it like Furio from The Sopranos, that is, like a goon with a heavy Naples accent, then you say broosh-ketta. But it’s still a hard C no matter how you slice it.
Tomatoes are finally, gloriously in season. After last year’s tomato blight, I’ve been awaiting their return like I used to wait for the Sears Wish Book as a child. They’re just starting to trickle into my CSA vegetable share with a couple of juicy beefsteaks this week and a dozen or so red and orange cherry tomatoes.
Over the weekend, I stopped by the ever reliable Manhattan Fruit and Vegetable Exchange at Chelsea Market where I purchased the first of the big Jersey tomatoes bearing their fiery, orange-red skin. I also had a few plum tomatoes hanging around at home, so I decided to combine my entire tomato bounty into one meal.
I chopped them into small pieces, adorned them with just sea salt, olive oil, a clove of garlic, and some torn basil leaves from the plant on my window sill. Finally, I spooned the colorful mixture on to slices of bread that had been toasted in a frying pan with a touch of olive oil.
Aren’t they pretty?
And yes they do match the curtains.
A few notes for your own tomato eating pleasure: Don’t store them in the fridge! Anything below 50? ruins the flavor. When ripe, they’ll be slightly soft, have a uniform color and most importantly, smell like a tomato. If they need more time, you can put them in a brown paper bag and let them ripen on your counter top. Ideally, they should be stored in a cool, though not cold place.
Oh, and one final Italian lesson. Tomato, in Italian, is pomodoro, which translates to “golden apple.” Enjoy!
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You are making me very hungrey for those.
ARGH! All this fresh tomato taunting when it is the dead of winter Down Under is BRUTAL! Mwahaha. My day will come.
Thank you so much for taking a stand on the pronunciation. I have had people correct me when I’ve said “Broos-ketta” as if I was saying it wrong!
Thanks for the pronunciation lesson! Had always wondered and always got it wrong. I have been looking for new ways to serve our garden tomatoes, so this post hit the spot. Thank you!
I love broosketta, although I always seem to pronounce it wrong. This is the perfect time to make a big supply; I’ve been buying fabulous tomatoes from a nearby farmstand, and really enjoying their wonderful flavor.
Well, I’ve been pronouncing it correctly — but believe me, it can be a lonely business in a world of insistent shhhh sounds. This looks remarkably good.
Thanks for the inspiration. I made some some bruschetta (with a hard ch) last night and it was summer perfection. I grill the bread slices with a little olive oil then rub a cut clove of garlic onto them.
I’m glad you mentioned not refrigerating tomatoes – drives me crazy when I see people doing that!
Love broos-keta (even though I’ve been pronouncing it wrong all these years).
I’m been saying it wrong but loving it all the same! I have a sudden craving for the exact dish you have pictured here. Perhaps dinner!
This is my favorite summertime meal. Truly. Now if I could only grow tomatoes in abundance…
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