I wish I could say that I’ve been harboring this recipe for years, that I’m embarrassed to be posting it only now after summers and summers of enjoyment. I wish I could say that I’ve been adding it to my menu every week of every tomato season for as long as I can remember. I wish that the glut of tomatoes that I harvested this year, the glut that caused me to try this experiment, had happened years ago.

Well. I can say none of those things. The truth is I’ve never been a big fan of fresh tomatoes, and as such, I’ve spent my life picking them off of salads, sandwiches, and pastas. But I’ve vigilantly planted at least a couple of varieties each of the last few years in an effort to force myself into using them, and this year, the strategy paid off handsomely. It seemed wrong to take such ripe, beautiful fruits at their peak and cook them down into sauce, and the internet seemed to agree that bruschetta is a great way to feature them raw.

Lord. The internet was right. I’ve already whipped it up three more times after we inhaled the inaugural batch, moving this straight to the top of our meals-to-look-forward-to-in-the-summer list.

If you’re a tomato-avoider like I can be sometimes (though it seems I’m becoming less of one every year) I urge you to set aside your skepticism and give this a shot. The acidic flavor of the tomatoes is tempered by the mozzarella, brightened by basil, and deepened by gently-cooked garlic and dark balsamic vinegar.

Once the chopping is done, the rest comes together pretty quickly. Toss everything in a bowl, along with some balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper and leave it to soak while you prepare the second half of this perfect marriage: buttery, toasty bread.

Now the bruschetta is good, very good, eaten straight from the bowl with a spoon. But atop a slice of warm, toasted bread that’s been brushed with butter, it’s just… OH. So sublime. So wonderfully tasty.

And I warn you: do not, under any circumstances, skip the buttering and toasting. We tried it, and a slice of untoasted bread is practically a different ingredient. And it doesn’t take long. You can buy a whole baguette and slice it yourself. Or, I’ve had pretty good luck buying day-old bread that the shop will slice up and bag for me. A brush of butter and a few minutes under the broiler will wipe away any deficiencies of using not-quite-fresh bread.

Bruschetta is typically served as an appetizer, a beautiful presentation that can easily serve 8-10 people as a starter. But I highly recommend it as a main course. Especially with the addition of mozzarella, this makes a perfectly filling meal for two people.

Besides, as of now, it’s all I can do to share with Brad, let alone try to limit myself to an appetizer-sized portion.

Bruschetta Mozzarella
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Serves 2 as a main course, 8-10 as an appetizer

1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 pint roma tomatoes
12 leaves basil
8 oz fresh mozzarella
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
about 1/2 a baguette, sliced in half-inch slices
4 T unsalted butter

Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Mince the garlic and add to the hot oil; sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until the garlic is a light golden color. Empty the garlic and oil into a medium mixing bowl.

Dice the tomato and slice the mozzarella into small pieces, about the size of a thick coin. Chiffonade the basil by stacking the leaves, tightly rolling them length-wise, and then slicing the resulting log into thin strips. Add the tomatoes, cheese, and basil to the mixing bowl. Add the balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper and mix thoroughly. Set the bowl aside while you prepare the bread.

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the broiler on high. Slice the baguette and spread the slices on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Melt the butter completely and brush lightly over each piece of bread. Toast the bread under the broiler for 4-5 minutes or until the edges of the bread are golden-brown, but keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Remove the tray and place the bread on a serving plate.

Serve immediately. You’ll hardly be able to resist.

Hi there.

I don’t want this to be awkward.

But this is my first post in, oh, almost two weeks.

I’d love to say that I’ve been off somewhere exotic, tropical, and completely cut off from the internet to offer an excuse. But the truth is that I’ve been right here in good old North Carolina, I’ve just been working immense amounts of overtime. Which is great! It just means that the few hours I do have to myself, all I really feel like doing is collapsing into bed for a couple chapters of my book before I fall asleep.

I am really looking forward to this three day weekend not to relax, but to get caught up on cooking, editing photos, planting the next phase of my two little gardens, and on general maintenance of my life outside the office.

Some gardening, though, cannot be stopped. The basil continues its seemingly unending life, and while I know that I could just cut down all the plants to nip this in the bud, I’m now sorta curious to see how long they can last. But that decision means that I must find things to do with basil besides making pesto or layering it onto sandwiches. And voila! I stumbled across this recipe and decided immediately to try it out.

The concept is simple, the preparation quick, and the results delicious. Rather than putting the whole batch of butter back in the fridge, I froze it in tiny dollops that I can thaw as needed, because, you know, my freezer wasn’t quite full of pesto cubes. Must. Freeze. More. Basil products. I can grab a dollop here, a dollop there, and can use it on whatever benefits from savory butter.

So, basically everything, then.

I may need to whip up a few more batches to keep up with the basil factory churning in the garden. Maybe if I’m lucky, the basil will take a three-day weekend as well. Hmm.

Don’t be surprised if you get this from me for Christmas.

Garlic Basil Butter
Adapted from Allrecipes

3/4 c fresh basil leaves, packed
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Chop basil leaves and garlic in a food processor or blender until finely chopped. Add butter, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Scoop the butter into small dollops (about a teaspoon) onto the waxed paper. Once all butter has been dolloped (teehee) place the cookie sheet in the freezer and freeze for several hours or until the butter has hardened.

Store dollops in an airtight container or a freezer-safe bag and thaw as needed.