Bruschetta Bar – Entertaining the Italian Way !
Who doesn’t love a nice bruschetta bar ? I’m pretty sure our love and addiction with the bruschetta bar is clearly obvious on this blog.
Long hot summer days call for tons of heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella bruschetta bars, we thrive on that. Now that the holidays are almost here I wanted to share with you the Italian way to entertaining, and how we do it at the shack holiday or not, with a loaded bruschetta bar.
Now really, there is no exact recipe for a bruschetta bar, as it all depends on the region you live in and what is available there. For us things don’t change too much because of the climate that we live in, but honestly you should try to work with whatever is in season in your area.
My addiction of choice, the Burrata pouch never missed an appearance at the shack. Fresh mozzarella cheese stuffed with creamy ricotta is just pure heaven for my taste buds, and so I keep it close to home and always has a spot in the bruschetta bar.
Next on the list is my newest weakness, the creamy goat brie cheese. Hello deliciousness, I grill it for just about 30 seconds on a cast iron griddle, then onto the bruschetta bar it goes, right next to the thinly sliced Italian sopressata salami. I get the sausage version that makes pretty small slices.
Tough I call it a bruschetta bar I’m really making crostini, adorable miniature versions of bruschetta. I start with a nice baguette so we have small bite size pieces of everything.
I always roast some red bell peppers and marinade them in olive oil and red wine vinegar. Another serious addiction of mine, smoky roasted bell peppers just have my heart, forever and ever, right up there with heirloom tomatoes. Which we are so lucky to pretty much have all year round, so they grace us with their presence on the bruschetta bar most of the times.
Basil walnut pesto and a black olive tapenade are the final touches I need as a vegetarian, but because there are always carnivores around I add the one and only Prosciutto di Parma alongside the sopressata salami.
I also like a touch of fruit, being that it is fall, grapes get preferential treatment, also pears, nice red juicy pears if you can find them. If it was summer I’d most likely add some yellow peaches and strawberries instead.
I guess that’s the fun part with a bruschetta bar, it constantly changes so it never gets old. Not like grilled bread rubbed with garlic will ever get old around here.
But for those on a gluten-free diet, but really just because we love it hehe, I also grill some polenta rounds. Let me tell you how good that is. So good you’ll have to make some to understand !
Now that you have your bruschetta bar ready to entertain even a king and queen, make sure you don’t forget to pick up some nice wine. best part, you don’t even need to cook dinner, this is a satisfying impressive meal as it is.
Truth be told, nowadays you can buy everything you need for the bruschetta bar at the market, including the pesto and roasted peppers. But I still make my own, a day in advance, so when my guests show up I’m ready to eat and hang out.
Let’s set up this bruschetta bar already, I’m getting hungry – Florentina xo’s
- 1 baguette , thinly sliced
- ½ lb burrata cheese
- 4 oz goats brie cheese
- 6 garliccloves
- ½ c extra virgin olive oil
- 6 roasted bell peppers
- 1 c black olive tapenade
- 1 c basil walnut pesto
- 4.5 oz sopressata salami, organic
- 4.5 oz Prosciutto di Parma
- 2 heirloom tomatoes, sliced
- ½ c fresh basil leaves
- 1 bunch grapes
- 1 polenta tube, sliced into rounds
- 2 c marinated artichokes, optional
- 1 honeycomb
- sea salt, to taste
- On a hot cast iron griddle grill the bread sliced until nice charred marks form. Rub one side of each slice of bread to the garlic clove to your liking.
- Brush all the grilled bruschetta with some of the olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.
- To grill the polenta rounds, brush them with olive oil before adding them to the hot grill, making sure they don’t stick. Carefully use a flat spatula to flip them.
- Arrange them grille polenta rounds and crostini on a wooden board and assemble your bruschetta bar. Add the roasted peppers, sliced soppresata, prosciutto, roasted peppers and sliced tomatoes.
- Sprinkle the bruschetta bar with some fresh basil just before serving and enjoy !
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P.S. these Smoked Salmon Crostini <— Delightful !
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