Tomato Bruschetta Toast

Tomato Bruschetta Toast is a perfect breakfast, lunch or appetizer. Make with every tomato variety you can find. This is amazing!

This is an updated post form September, 2015.

This warm September morning I had this tomato bruschetta toast for breakfast. Yesterday I had this for dinner. And I also had it for lunch.

To say I am obsessed with this tomato salad would be true. It is good Manservant is away, because he would not be obsessed with this. He prefers his tomatoes in salsa form.

As a child I hated tomatoes. I did like them in ketchup form and of course, that was way back before I’d even heard of salsa.

So other than eating tomatoes as spaghetti sauce or chili, I really never ate tomatoes. Even tomato soup wasn’t on my radar screen.

My mom did buy tomatoes. I think back then they were the cold, refrigerated kind. Except when it was summer.

Summer found us at the little farm stand on Court Street with the sand floors. It was always cool inside even though it was an open air stand.

The front door always had bunches of gladiolas in every color of the rainbow to greet you. They came in bunches of a dozen for 99 cents. It was always hard to choose my favorite color.

We also bought fresh corn there. My guess is that they were 99 cents a dozen also, but I don’t remember.

I think the hardest thing and that which took the longest, was when mom chose tomatoes. She would pick up each one and check for bruises. Then she would smell them as if she was choosing her favorite perfume.

Then she would set them aside and get a brown paper bag and start placing them carefully inside. As we got into the car we were always told to, “Watch the tomatoes!”

Upon arriving home the tomatoes were gently placed stem down, on the window sill where upon they sat until she sliced them into giant rounds and sprinkled salt and pepper on them.

Sometimes she served them with cucumbers and sliced onions. Sometimes she just ate them straight up. And all this time I wouldn’t eat them. A tomato did not cross my lips.

Even when she started growing them herself, I never ate a tomato. I didn’t even eat fried green tomatoes, which my mom made once a year. I mean really! I didn’t eat something fried?

I am sure that my mother never wanted us to like tomatoes because some things you just want all too yourself.

It really wasn’t until a few years ago that I ate tomatoes. They were probably in the form of a caprese salad.

It is hard to resist cheese, even when they are  served with tomatoes. I guess it was all over for me then, as I quickly discovered what I’d been missing for some 50 years.

What’s the difference between tomato bruschetta and tomato toast?

Bruschetta is usually eaten as part of an antipasto (appetizer) platter  in Italy. There are a million ways to eat bruschetta, which is usually defined as grilled bread rubbed with garlic and olive oil. The toppings are numerous but tomatoes are very popular on bruschetta.

Toast is just that. There is no reason not too toast. Unless you want to grill or broil! So yes, the difference between both is negligible in my opinion, unless you want the traditional Italian version.

Can I substitute something for the green peppers?

Now many of you may not like green peppers. I hated green peppers as a child and there was no such thing as red ones back then.

Really. I don’t think I saw a red pepper until I was 23 and in Israel, where I don’t believe they have green peppers!

I love the crunch and flavor that the green pepper gives to this simple recipe. However red peppers will work, as would celery. 

 Still to this day I don’t like green peppers, unless it smells like a green pepper. It needs to smell just picked and pungent and then and only then, will I eat it.

I’ve had good luck this year finding really good green peppers. Just look for that smell. It just may change your mind! My guess is that they are the freshest and the others have probably been refrigerated.

Now is tomato season so make sure to get your fill.  Heirlooms, red and yellow pear tomatoes, green zebras, early girls, romas, beefsteaks, brandywines celebritys, San Marzanos….the list could go on and on.

I even love the names of the tomatoes. They are all so pretty, I hate to eat them. Each has their own individual taste. So get them while you still can. Summer’s bounty will be gone before you know it.

My salad toast is about as simple as it gets. Yes, you could eat this just as a salad, but there is nothing like a good hunk of bread to soak up all that tomato goodness.

Tips on Making Tomato Bruschetta:

Please make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. Even the cheese!

And please never refrigerate tomatoes. That is a no no!

Make sure you have good artisan bread. This is a salad of flavor and texture and is pleasing to the eye. And we all know we eat with our eyes, don’t we?

A Few More with Tomatoes:

Peach, Green Chile and Sage Bites

Farro Salad with Grilled Vegetables

Calabacitas Tomato Sandwich

Cornbread and Tomato Salad

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