Roasted Tomato and Garlic Bruschetta with Balsamic
This juicy and flavorful roasted tomato and garlic bruschetta with balsamic vinegar is the best summer appetizer for two! Scales easily for a larger crowd.
Equipment
Ingredients
Roasted Tomato and Garlic Bruschetta
- 10 ounces sweet grape tomatoes
- 1 head garlic cloves separated, peeled, and smashed
- 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 to 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 6 to 8 leaves fresh basil
Crostini
- ½ loaf baguette sliced into half-inch thick rounds
- 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 to 2 pinches sea salt
Instructions
Roasted Tomato and Garlic Bruschetta
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Add the grape tomatoes and smashed garlic cloves to a small baking dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with a pinch of sea salt.
- Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes, until the tomatoes are juicy and the garlic is soft.
- Finally, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Serve hot with crostini or fresh bread.
Crostini
- Line a baking sheet with foil and lay the baguette slices down in a single layer.
- Drizzle the bread with olive oil and season with sea salt.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for about 8 minutes, or until lightly toasted. They may not be visibly toasted, but a quick tap on the bread with your finger will tell you if they have crisped.
- Serve warm with bruschetta.
Notes
Ingredient selection: Since the tomatoes and garlic are the main flavors in this recipe, make sure to buy the best tomatoes and garlic you can find! We love making this appetizer in the summer when tomatoes (and fresh basil) are in season.
Note that you’ll need a cooking olive oil for this recipe, not extra virgin. Cooking olive oil still has great flavor, but it can withstand higher temperatures than extra virgin olive oil.
Finally, make sure you pick out a high quality balsamic vinegar for this recipe. The flavor will really stand out since it gets drizzled over everything before serving.
Roasting tomatoes and garlic: Make sure to smash the garlic cloves well before adding them to the baking dish - this step is crucial! If you don’t smash the garlic, it will take much longer to roast and the tomatoes will end up overcooked, or your garlic will end up too tough.
To check if everything is properly roasted, carefully peel back the foil and stick a fork in one of the garlic cloves. If it slides in easily with little to no resistance, the garlic is ready. You’ll know the tomatoes are cooked if they look soft and juicy and their skins have split.
Crostini: We love to make fresh crostini to go with this bruschetta. You can easily prep it once the tomatoes and garlic are in the oven, then pop it in the oven during the last 8 to 10 minutes of cooking so everything is ready at the same time.
Scaling: You can easily scale this recipe to serve it to a crowd (it's a delicious and impressive dinner party appetizer!). We have this 2-piece set of baking dishes and use the smaller one for one batch (2 servings), and the larger one for a double batch (4 servings).
Nutrition
Calories: 230kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 607mg | Potassium: 421mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1260IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 3mg
