Tomato Garlic Bruschetta

I wasn’t really sure what to call this recipe. I know bruschetta is a bread, but the only thing I’ve heard the yummy, garlicky tomato mixture on top of the bread called is Checca. And that was from an old California Pizza Kitchen menu. When I google the word Checca I find that it’s a derogatory term in Italian, so I didn’t want to call it that!  But Checca Sauce is defined as an uncooked tomato sauce. Because people widely know this appetizer as bruschetta, I’m calling this Tomato Garlic Bruschetta…but I actually serve mine with focaccia bread. I know, I’m confusing things further! I guess it doesn’t really matter what it’s called. It’s delicious, an easy recipe, and you can service it on bruschetta, focaccia, salad, pizza, steak, chicken…so many options!

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The focaccia bread I make with this recipe is based on a Weight Watchers recipe called 2 Ingredient Dough. It’s simply self-rising flour and nonfat greek yogurt. What makes it “focaccia” is that I add rosemary, olive oil, garlic and parmesan. Here is the recipe for my Tomato Garlic Bruschetta.

And speaking of WW, this tomato garlic bruschetta recipe is only 1 WW point for me on the WW Persona Plan program!

For this tomatoey recipe, I always find fresh is better. You could probably use diced, canned tomatoes, but I’ve never tried that. I always use fresh grape or cherry tomatoes. The grape tomatoes have a lower water content than the cherry tomatoes, so they work well for this recipe, but I’ll use whichever the grocery store has on hand. So follow along as I share my Tomato Garlic Bruschetta with you.

Here’s what you’ll need…

• 1 container cherry or grape tomatoes (you could also use roma tomatoes)
• 10 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp garlic (or garlic clove)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Here’s what you’ll do…

• Dice tomatoes in half and then in quarters

• Drain the tomatoes on a paper towel to get most of the water out

• Finely chop the basil

• Blend together in a medium size bowl

• Add the tbsp of garlic

• And the tsp of coarse salt

• And finally, the 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

• Mix it all together and either serve, or store in the refrigerator. 

I actually prefer making this ahead of time and serving the next day. It gives the herbs and spices a chance to meld all together and makes it even better!

Here’s a YouTube video of the process:

This is one of my favorite appetizers to make. I love easy recipes, and healthy recipes and really, all you need with it is a piece of bread! But there are other things you can do with this tomato bruschetta recipe.

• Rub some cloves of garlic on the bread prior to adding the bruschetta
• Make some bruschetta chicken, by adding the tomatoes to boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Add some pepper jack cheese or fresh mozzarella cheese and lightly toast to melt.
• Drizzle some balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar over it
• Add sweet onions, red onions, black pepper, parmesan cheese, or garlic powder to the recipe to make it your own
• Serve it on french bread, Italian bread, white ciabattas, or any toasted bread
• Add cream cheese to the bread and then the tomatoes

Fun ways to serve it…

I’m always looking for fun new ways to serve food to guests. I found this platter and bowl on Amazon that would work beautifully for this dish.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Here’s another WW friendly recipe I think you’ll like… my Chicken Fried Rice.

Happy tinkering,

Susan