Antipasti 'Pizza' Bruschetta with Homemade Pesto

I absolutely love this, it's a small portion bursting with flavor that will be sure to satisfy you! I will describe how I made it but this is one of those very flexible recipes and I really encourage you to use what you have. It's perfect to make after you've been entertaining if you have a variety of nice antipasti items leftover- nice cheeses, mixed olives, etc. As I mentioned in my last post, my friend visited over memorial day weekend and I always like to have things like this stocked in the fridge since it's super easy to whip together a big plate to enjoy. After my visit to Italy two summers ago I can hardly prepare a cheese plate without jam or chutney and honey on the side! A great tip to fill out your cheese and antipasti plate when entertaining.

Now, I made a big batch of homemade pesto for this even though it only calls for a tablespoon or so. But the pesto really takes the recipe to the next level. I've actually made this without pesto and it was good but really didn't compare (but if you must you can smear a very thin layer of Dijon mustard on the bread as a 'base' layer). I happened to have a large block of parmigiano reggiano that I needed to use up so it was an easy choice to make pesto, plus it stores well and will be easy to use in a recipe later this week. If I don't get around to it then I can always freeze it, too.

I was cooking for one, so adjust portions as needed. A lot of the topping portions are up to you based on what you have and how large your slice of bread is.

Brushetta

• Sun dried tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• Nice olives, pitted
• Small grape tomatoes
• 2-3 Types of nice cheese, shredded
• Large slice of nice bread- I used sourdough
• Olive Oil
• 1 Clove garlic
• 1 Tablespoon pesto- recipe below
• Arugula - optional

To start, cut the sun dried tomatoes in strips and soak in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (mine were dry, if yours are packed in oil then skip the olive oil and just soak in balsamic). These tasted SO GOOD I could use them on anything!

Now slice your olives. Use what you have, but I wouldn't recommend the little green ones with pimiento nor canned black- just use freshly marinated, whatever variety you prefer! I had a mix of 'Spanish tapa' olives, seed in, leftover so that is what I used. It's pretty easy and fast to slice them even with a pit in, just cut the four sides off, laying the olive on it's newly flat cut side with each slice.

You can see the pits in the bottom right, just four quick slices and you've got most of the 'meat' off the pit!

I had adorable tiny little grape tomatoes so I just cut them in half. If yours are larger you can quarter them, just be sure they are really ripe. I'm all for using what you have but I really prefer mini-tomatoes for this vs. a diced large tomato because the small ones heat up really nicely and almost burstswith flavor. If you find them reasonably priced it's fun to do mixed colors, yellow and red grape tomatoes, for a nice presentation.

Shred the cheese. It's nice to use 1-2 sharp, hard cheeses (for a salty bite) and maybe 1 soft and mild cheese (something that will melt really nicely). I used aged gouda and parmigiano reggiano for the hard & sharp cheeses and st. nectaire for the mild(er) soft(er) cheese. Mozzarella would work nicely for this too. You can slice the softer cheese into strips if that is easier than shredding.

St. Nectaire, it was really good but I will probably try a milder soft cheese next time since the two hard cheeses had such great, strong flavors

Cut a slice of bread, about 1/2 an inch thick and brush both sides with olive oil.

Heat for a few minutes on each side in a grill pan, on the grill, or toast in the oven at 400 degrees for 4 minutes on each side. I used a grill pan because I STILL don't have air conditioning set up and there is no way I'm turning on my oven with this 90 degree weather! Slice a clove of garlic in half at an angel and peel, then rub the top of the warm bread with the cut slice of garlic.

Now you start the building process based on your taste preferences! Start by spreading with a tablespoon (more or less depending on size of bread) of pesto on the grilled bread.

Then sprinkle a thin layer of a sharp cheese- I used the aged gouda for this layer. Top with olives and a generous amount of the marinated sun dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes.

Cover with a small amount of the soft cheese and a small sprinkle of hard cheese- parmigiano reggiano is nice on top.

I toasted this in the toaster oven until it was nice and melted, but if your oven won't turn your entire apartment into an inferno you can bake this at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes, just keep an eye on it. Top with a few fresh slices of basil, left over from making pesto, and you are in for a REAL treat! I ate this with lightly dressed arugula (just a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil) but I've also served with soup which is heartier and equally delicious. In fact if you serve with soup don't be afraid to just top the brushetta with the arugula. This was so good I could have easily eaten two, YUM!

** Side note- do NOT add any extra salt to this! You'll get plenty from the sharp cheeses, olives and pesto.

Pesto

• 1/4 Cup pine nuts
• 1/2 Cut shredded parmigiano reggiano
• 2 Cups basil, packed
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
• 1 Cup minus 3 tablespoons good olive oil- add slowly, as much as needed. I preferred a thicker texture for this recipe

Just throw this all into a food processor and blend!

Add the olive oil slowly. I like adding lemon for a bright touch. I didn't add garlic but you could always throw in 1 peeled clove. This is so good, you'll be really happy to have left overs.

You can get creative with your pesto if you want to, too! Add some olives, some sundried tomatoes, less nuts, a variety of herbs, see what happens...