We’ve discussed bruschetta before, when talking about the tomato salad that typically gets served on or alongside it. And yes, said tomato salad is amazing, but let’s not all forget about the base of this: the actual bruschetta. These tasty, little toast slices are incredibly useful for all sorts of applications, and even better is how insanely easy they are to make.

To really put it simply, bruschetta are just grilled or toasted slices of bread, which you can put toppings on, as part of Itallian antipasti. If you want to make the easiest version of them, this is all you need:

• Loaf of Italian bread
• Butter

That’s it. Yep, just bread and butter. It sounds simple, but thanks to the miracle cooking process known as toasting, it’s all you need to throw these together quickly.

1. Start by slicing your bread into very thing pieces, about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick.

   

2. Place these little slices onto a baking tray, and butter each slice on both sides.

   

3. Set your oven to broil, and place the tray inside. Broil the slices for about 1 minute, or until golden. Flip them over, repeat, and they’re all done! (You can also use the toast function if you have a toaster oven).

   

4. If you’d like, you can eat these plain as bread chips, or you can top with fresh mozzarella, a slice of tomato, basil, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

   

You can eat them as-is (right), or even add a little slice of chicken cutlet in, for some extra snack-itude (left).

Seriously, look how fancy this is. This looks like something masterfully crafted by your great grandpa Giuseppe over the course of like a half hour, complete with a hand-kissing “Voila!” gesture at the end. But nah, I made this little batch in the time it takes most people to scroll through their Facebook feed. For the record, the toast itself is the “bruschetta” part. Adding the tomato and the works on top, renders it “bruschetta pomodoro”.

Now let’s talk authentic-ass bruschetta. To get technical, you’re supposed to use garlic and olive oil on these bad boys too. But with all due respect to my Italian heritage, butter tastes better than olive oil. So let’s compromise and meet halfway, alright?

Easy Bruschetta Recipe

• Thin sliced Italian bread, approx. 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick
• Butter
• Olive oil
• Garlic clove, peeled
• Tomato, sliced thin
• Fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
• Balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze
• Fresh basil

The procedure for this is effectively the same as the above, however with one additional step: after you toast your bruschetta chips, cut your garlic clove in half, and rub the garlic all over the top of the toast. The rough, crusty surface of the toasted bread will act as a sort of miniature shredded for the garlic, which will release its delicious flavor onto the toast. After this, drizzle a small amount of olive oil on top, and then proceed with the tomato and cheese.

Need some tips for saving your bread? Read here about how to get the most out of your loaf!

Or maybe learn how to make some plain, ol’ bruschetta pomodoro salad as a side dish or a topping for your main course!