The Julia Child Bruschetta recipe that's so good it brought my guests to tears. Olive Oil fried rustic bread topped with marinated tomatoes and basil.
If you're the kind of person who likes to cook, you know the satisfaction you get from serving someone food and having them smile at the end of eating it. If they actually mumble out a "Soooo goood" as they're eating it even better. Betty does that all the time when I feed her, (but she doesn't count because she makes the same sounds eating a TV dinner or a pistachio she swept up from behind the fridge.)
So the MMMMMMmmmmmm sounds are good, but the Holy Grail of feeding someone is bringing them to tears. Reducing a human being to a quaking, sobbing mess whose greatest fear in life is no longer death ... but the thought of never eating this delicious food again.
On August 22nd, 2014 such a miracle occurred in my kitchen. And then it happened again.
I thought it was just a fluke, like when people see Jesus in their Cream of Wheat, but when it happened a second time I knew I'd stumbled upon something pretty spectacular. Definitely more spectacular than a hairy fridge pistachio.
Do you want to know what this miracle food was? Bruschetta. But you knew that already if you read the title of this post.
This isn't just any bruschetta though, it's bruschetta inspired by the movie Julie & Julia which if you don't know, it's a movie based on Julie Powell's blog in which she chronicled her (successful) attempt to recreate every recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". GREAT premise for a blog.
In the movie the bruschetta looked and sounded so goooood. And if you watch the scene from the movie, Julie's husband does exactly what you want people to do when they eat your cooking. He says, "This is GOOOOD!"
Also I love whatshisname. Whatshisname is my favourite character on The Mindy Project right after Mindy. And the other guy who is so funny. You know. The nurse.
The Bruschetta Recipe
So you want to learn how to make this bruschetta? Want to learn how to bring someone to tears with your food? Here we go.
First of all a few tips:
1. Use fresh, crusty bread. Whole slices! Not a baguette.
2. FRY in olive oil. I mean it. You fry it.
3. Don't even attempt this if it isn't summer and you don't have fresh tomatoes.
Let's get started ...
You need bread, olive oil, tomatoes, basil and salt.
Dice a few fresh, local tomatoes. Extra points for heirloom and homegrown. Even if the home wasn't yours.
Tear up a handful of fresh basil and add it. Add lots if you love basil, little if you don't. I used this sized bunch for around 5 small-medium tomatoes.
I know you're alarmed that there's no fresh garlic in this recipe but there isn't. I'm not going to second guess Julia Child. It's is 100% delicious without the overpowering flavour of garlic. If you want to add garlic you can but I BEG you to try it without first.
Drizzle the tomatoes and basil with a good amount of olive oil and let stand for 30-45 minutes.
After 30 minutes, sprinkle with salt and pepper (I actually don't use pepper but go nuts if you're a pepper person) let sit for another 10 minutes or so.
Cover the bottom of a pan with olive oil until it's approximately 3mm deep. Just glug it in there. Heat pan over medium/low. Not too hot or your bread will burn, not too low or it'll just soak up a bunch of oil and get gross.
FRYING TIP
To test if your oil is hot enough to fry place the end of a wooden spoon in the oil. If the tip forms bubbles right away, it's at the right temperature to fry.
While the pan is heating, slice your crusty bread. I make my own bread using the master recipe from this cookbook, The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day but you don't have to make your own bread. Just use a fresh, dense, crusty loaf.
Fry bread slices in oil until browned or your tongue falls out of your mouth. Whichever comes first.
Remove bread from the pan and generously spoon the tomato mixture over the top. But first, maybe, just look at the golden brown, toasty, olive oil drenched goodness. Smell it. Love it.
O.K., NOW you can top it with your tomatoes and basil. Just spoon it right on there. Lots of it.
And now you eat it.
Bruschetta from the movie Julie & Julia
Ingredients
- 3 medium tomatoes heirloom and a variety of colours if you can get them.
- 3 large stems basil
- ½ cup olive oil good quality
- salt
- 4 slices bread hearty, crusty bread is best.
Instructions
- Dice tomatoes.Shred basil leaves.Mix tomatoes and basil in bowl with ¼ of olive oil, reserving other ¼ cup for frying.Let this mixture sit for 30 minutes.When the 30 minutes is up, add a generous sprinkling of salt to the mixture and let it sit for another 10 minutes.Now is when you can heat up ¼ cup of olive oil (your goal is to have 3mm of oil in the pan) over medium/low heat.Once hot, fry your slices of bread until golden.Remove bread from pan and top with tomato mixture.
Notes
Nutrition
I've listed this as a snack, but in the summer this could easily be a meal. Especially if you round it out with a big bowl of ice cream.
Serve the bruschetta HOT. With a box of Kleenex.
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Vanessa
Home grown tomatoes AND home made bread? Now you're just showing off! I have always made bruschetta with garlic and balsamic vinegar, but now I'm wondering if that isn't to cover the flavor of inferior tomatoes?(Although I did get my recipe from my straight off the boat, Italian Nonna) I just got a ton of tomatoes from my Aunt, whom I am convinced is giving her ONE tomato plant steroids. I will TRY, it your way (alas, with store bought bread), you haven't led me astray yet. I figure I can always add garlic and balsamic if I have to.
Karen
Thank you Vanessa. :) ~ karen!
Kim
First let me apologize. I got caught up in the conversation and forgot to read all the comments before posting. Your bruschetta looks delicious Karen. In your honor I will make it at least once your way but I'm one of the garlic people. I mix EVOO and roasted garlic and use it like butter LOL. Garlic is a great natural fighter of pathogens. Think of it as a yummy antibiotic and antiviral :-)
Karen
That's O.k And I happen to love garlic. I grow a hundreds of heads of it every year. This recipe just isn't where to put raw garlic, lol. You can if you want but it won't taste the same. Raw garlic will always overpower tomatoes and basil so you'll lose the best part of the whole thing. ~ karen!
IRS
All right Karen. Out of respect for you, I tried it your way. To the letter. Basil from my garden. Heirloom tomato from my neighbour's, snagged through the fence when he wasn't looking. Excellent olive oil. Really good, and &@$?! expensive bread. Verdict? Yawn. Underwhelmed. Yes, the tomato/basil/EVOO combo was tasty, but it didn't zing. So I added the fresh ground pepper and garlic (being modest with both), and suddenly the whole thing danced on my tongue. Garlic doesn't overwhelm it, especially when I use restraint, but it complements and brings together the whole thing. You keep saying "it's not garlic bread" as the reasoning for omitting this key ingredient, but that is being simplistic. No, it is not garlic bread, but garlic can be used in a great many things. Just because a recipe includes both bread and garlic, doesn't automatically make it garlic bread. To each his own, but this was a "fail" for me.
Karen
Somehow that doesn't surprise me. ~ karen!
IRS
Why? Because I am the Garlic Queen? As I said, I forced myself to be very modest with the garlic, so that it would just be a guest at the dance, and not hijack it and take hostages. I have enjoyed your other recipes, but we have a fundamental philosophic difference on this one. But I am grateful for your suggestion to fry the bread, since I have never tried this with bruschetta. You would think this would have occurred to me, since I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but nope. I always toasted or grilled my bruschetta bread, but I will be doing it your way from now on.
Karen
Nice try. You used garlic. We're breaking up. ~ karen!
IRS
Nah, we're not. You would miss my sweet, sunny disposition, and my tolerant, loving acceptance of the whole of mankind. Yeah, all right, you would miss my snide, sniping snark, and the pot shots I take at everything that annoys me. Of which there is plenty.
Jan in Waterdown
We ALL would miss you. Maybe you could just be friends with benefits?
Jody
You're killing me. The styling of the photos with the flower peeking in from the side. The oil fried bread. Tomatoes and basil. It sounds so easy. And funny I just bought that bread book this past weekend.
Kristin ferguson
In Italy they rub the toasted/fried bread with a cut garlic clove before adding the tomatoes. Your bruschetta looks beautiful. Oh, and public service announcement: it's pronounced broo-SKEH-tuh, not broo-SHETT-uh. I've actually ordered this in restaurants and pronounced it correctly, only to have the server repeat it back to me pronounced wrong, like she was correcting me. Pfft. I lived in Italy for a year, and I actually speak Italian. Trust me. It's bro-SKEH-tuh. End of public service announcement. Karen, you probably already knew that anyway.
IRS
Yes, Kristin, yes it is pronounced that way. Ignorant people love to butcher languages that they do not speak. It is reason number 57 for my perpetual state of crankiness.
Jan in Waterdown
Hells bells IRS! You need reasons? LOL! Actually, I'm guessing I would agree with all of them. I have had people correct me as in "No, dear, it's brooshetta" and I want to yell "No, dear, it's effin' not!" but I restrain myself and just raise my eyebrows knowingly . . .
Lynn
you are adorable.
I *LOVED* Julie and Julia!
... and now I want bruschetta.
and kleenex.
Leisa
Just made this for lunch and am counting the hours so I can have it for dinner too.....it definitely doesn't need garlic! #cryinginniagara
Cara
Bruschetta is my all time FAVORITE food. Sometimes I add garlic (rubbing the bread and adding some diced), sometimes I grill the bread. But I'm always sad when a restaurant or a friend will serve what they call Bruschetta and it's got olives, or cheese, or cucumbers, or some other abomination. There's no improving perfection!
Ruth
I'm amused by the sheer number of times you had to say "Nope. No garlic." in the comments. LOL!
For the record... I love the fact that there is no garlic. The fresh tomatoes and basil will get to shine unfettered... Glory be! :D
Karen
Thanks Ruth. I think I'm just going to say "Garlic? Great idea!" from now on and be done with it. Even though it's not a great idea, lol. Did you manage to grow any tomatoes this year? ~ karen!
Ruth
Not much gardening beyond scallions, turmeric and other herbs this year. We are currently in transition, so gardening will return to normal when things settle down.
We have to be satisfied with farmers' market for now.
Liz
Hahaha! agree!! I laughed a lot. No garlic people!!! Eat garlic tomatoes on your own time...in your own recipe, on garlic bread.
BethH
Couldn't wait for dinner, had this for lunch and it was delicious. I think I'll have it for dinner, too! NO GARLIC!
Karen
Ooo. I wish you'd taken a photo! Glad you tried it. ~ karen!
Melissa in NC
Who would have guessed such a small bulb of yumminess would create such a stir. I rub garlic on my bread when preparing bruschetta. Bruschetta is one of my favorite things...and peach Bellini's. I miss Italy.
Barbie
My goodness that does look good....and I never considered "frying" my bread....a house full of Italians and I never did it this way?....I'M GONNA BE THE HERO TONIGHT!!! Thx Karen
Karen Johnston
Me again,
I just googled Lorenzo No 5 Olive oil - apparently it's the Champagne of Olive Oils. So now I want to try it.
I tried amazon but they don't ship to Canada ("this item can't be shipped to your selected address")?
Where do you get it from Karen?
Because now I really want it:)
Karen
Hi Karen! You can get it at Picone's in Dundas. I actually got mine from Fortinos (like Loblaws) and it was on sale half price. There were two bottles but I cheaped out and only bought one like an idiot! ~ karen
Angie S
This looks amazing, but, I really can't imagine not adding garlic. Maybe even roasted garlic.
The tip on knowing if the oil is ready for frying is great - thanks for that!
Nancy Blue Moon
OK..I'm not gonna say the g word cause I would rather try it just as you suggest..or cause I afraid you might be driven over the edge and drive down here just to punch me in the throat....Anyhow...it looks soooo good...My tomatoes have gone south but I can go get some from the Amish..and bread fried in olive oil..oh yeah...My taste-buds thank you for this!
Wendy
I love your serving spoon.
I miss real bread. I am gluten-free. Celiac son, intolerant me . . . and your post made me want to cry because I miss that kind of bread.
Thanks for the completely yummy looking tomatoes.
Cindy
Oh, to all you garlic lovers.....I love garlic, but it HATES me!! Garlic is a major no no for most people that have heartburn issues. It is especially true for raw garlic. Great recipe Karen. Tomatoes are just about file in Minnesota. Can hardly wait!
Dale Lacina
Ma Nature must trust me because today she put two new caterpillars in plain view so I felt compelled to bring them into my Monarch Maternity Ward.
The power of Monarchs compels me!
The power of Monarchs compels me!
The power of Monarchs compels me!
Connie
I don't want to get too academic about this, but I lived in Italy and learned everything I could about the cuisine which I loved. So to clear up things a bit. Bruschetta in Italy is sliced bread (which in Italy is more like french bread and after two days can be used to kill flies it is that hard), toasted (sometimes over real fires) then rubbed with a clove of garlic. At that point the toast is so hard it can stand up to the garlic. But it is not a lot of garlic. Then the toast is drizzled with olive oil. That is the bruschetta. You can eat and enjoy eating it at that point or top it with what ever is at hand. Including but not limited to the wonderful homegrown heirloom tomatoes and basil, and now I am drooling, you featured. So don't use the garlic if you don't want to, but know that the Italian method doesn't leave a strong taste. I love garlic and would rub my toasted, but not fried bread. Love your blog by the way. And this is not a criticism but just additional information.
ET
Karen,
Just ordered a bottle of the recommended olive oil. I love bruschetta, even bad bruschetta. Here in Central Texas, our fresh tomato season is almost finished, but I'll scout the farmers market Saturday and maybe find a few. It's time to plant a few fresh plants for late fall tomatoes and hope they make.
Karen
Excellent. Every around here knows what I mean when I say "Get the good olive oil" out of the cupboard. It's the one I use for Caprese salad too. Which by the way, doesn't have garlic in it either, lol. ~ karen!