Bruschetta is always a great idea to serve as antipasto, snack, party food, or simply something to nibble on with a glass of your favorite Italian wine. Toppings ideas and recipes for Italian bruschetta can be as infinite as the ingredients you may think of, from the classic fresh tomato and basil to roasted veggies, prosciutto (uncooked cured ham) or salami, beans and tuna, mozzarella and arugola, you name it. Learn the basics here, then, splurge on your creativity.

The term Bruschetta comes from the Roman dialect “bruscare” which means “to toast bread over coals” and was originally an easy way for the farmers of central Italy to create a tasty meal out of simple (and often the only) ingredients at hand: grilled bread slices slightly rubbed with garlic and with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and some salt as topping. Still in these days, particularly in Rome, the real Bruschetta recipe is still just that simple.

Ingredients and Instructions:

Original Bruschetta Recipe

• Sliced artisan bread (firm crumb and thick crust breads are best for this)


• 1 garlic clove


• Extra-virgin olive oil


• Salt

1. Grill or toast the bread, until slightly brown on both sides, then brush slightly the garlic clove over one side of each slice, drizzle with some extra-virgin olive oil and finally sprinkle with some salt.


2. Serve (possibly still warm) as an appetizer, snack or a good glass of Italian wine of your choice.

Bruschetta with Tomato Recipe

• Fresh Roma tomatoes


• Fresh basil


• 1 garlic clove


• Extra-virgin olive oil


• Salt and pepper

1. Start with the same procedure of the classic bruschetta recipe and grill or toast the bread, until slightly brown, then slightly brush one side of each slice with the fresh garlic.


2. Top with chopped fresh Roma tomatoes, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and, finally, some fresh basil, the leaves rolled and cut into thin ribbons.


3. Serve as an appetizer, snack or a good glass of Italian wine of your choice.

Buon appetito!

A little note on how to correctly pronounce Bruschetta: no matter how your non-Italian server might say it when taking your order in an Italian (but-not-in-Italy) restaurant, it should NOT be pronounced “bru-she-tah”. We all know how to say correctly Pinocchio or Chianti, right? Well, same rule applies for Bruschetta and, in Italian, “chi” or “che” sound just as “ki” or “ke” in English, hence, the right way to say it is broo-sket-ta. And if they still try to correct you “Did you mean brushetah?”, please, smile and give them the link to this page. Ciao!

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