Recipe Sunday | Bruschetta

I can't believe I am about to admit this, but Jeff and I were late to our own dinner party this week. Yep, that's right folks. We were ten minutes late getting to our very own house to have dinner with some of our good friends, Megan and Bronson, who were patiently waiting at our front door when we arrived - and we were the ones making dinner! Ahh! Let's just say we got a little too excited while on a shoot that afternoon and spent a little too much extra time photographing than we had planned (you know, just an extra hour or so - that's all), which put us right in the middle of the worst of San Diego traffic getting home as well as in the midst of the evening rush hour at the grocery store. It was like a football play in the Vons parking lot - "Jeff, you go right for the French Baguettes in the bakery. I'll go left for the produce and we'll meet at the express checkout where you'll grab the keys to meet me at the entrance with the car. Break!"

Megan and Bronson were so gracious when we arrived (and definitely laughed at us pretty hard), but I am so glad that we picked the kinds of meals that we did to make that evening. It was super easy and yummy when it comes to the ultimate last minute cooking! The best part is that Bronson is a wedding photographer as well and he loved helping me photograph everything for the blog! Thanks Bronson!

So today's bruschetta recipe is something that I LOVE to make as appetizers for dinner guests because its easy, interesting, and super yummy! When Jeff and I were in Italy this past January, we ordered bruschetta at every restaurant we ate at and compared notes on how to make a fabulous and easy recipe, and ta-da! Its here!

What you'll need: fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil or cilantro (I used cilantro here), some really good extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), and some french bread.

My favorite tomatoes to use are actually the tiny little grape tomatoes cut in half, but Roma tomatoes are really tasty as well.

Normally we use smaller baguettes for the bread, but the store was all out so we went with the bigger french loaf.

Our industrial can of amazing olive oil. This stuff is incredible x10.

Cut up the tomatoes and cilantro/basil and put in a cute bowl.

I pour in a little EVOO here to marinate, but you don't need to.

Slice up your bread to put in the oven or on the grill to toast. The grill is the best for toasting the bread, but we used the oven here. The key is making sure it has a nice crunchy, toasty surface.

Jeff grilled some steaks for the main dish, which tasted fantastic!

While the bread is toasting, slice a few garlic cloves in half.

You'll need a flat surface on the garlic for the next step...

Once the bread is toasted, take the garlic halves and rub them on the hot bread.

This is the most important step! The garlic will melt like butter on the warm bread and this is what makes a true bruschetta really tasty! You'll be amazed at how good this is!

Its time to serve! Put some of the tomato mixture on top of the garlic bread...

Drizzle with olive oil, and then crack some sea salt on top. It has to be sea salt - it will really bring out the flavor of the olive oil and garlic. You can get these big sea salt grinders at Costco, and I use them for everything! Enjoy!

Lastly, add some good company and the cutest little baby you've ever seen and you're all set! This is Megan and Bronson's new baby girl, Audrey, and she's adorable!

Ready for dinner! Thanks Megan and Bronson for being such great friends and waiting patiently on our doorstep! You guys rock!

Hugs,
Erin