If you like stuff on toast and Italian flavors, this ricotta toast or bruschetta will become a favorite. It combines the creaminess of ricotta with juicy tomatoes and bits of crispy bacon. But first, the toasted bread is rubbed with garlic cloves to add an extra layer of yum!
Few ingredients and LOTS of flavor! Stuff on toast doesn't get much better. And SO easy to make.
What is a toast or bruschetta?
A piece of bread topped by ingredients meant to be eaten with your hands. In Italian is bruschetta, in French it's tartine (like the Strawberry Ricotta Tartine) and tostas in Spain. And for the English speaking countries I guess it's toast.
For this recipe, the bread slices are first toasted in the oven with olive oil and rubbed with fresh garlic cloves immediately after taking them out.
The bread baked with oil is in itself a great idea. With the rubbed garlic, which disintegrates a bit and impregnates into the toast until it becomes part of the crunchiness, it is memorable.
I grew up eating Italian food, which is extremely popular and a staple here in Buenos Aires. Together with meat, of course. Weekends eating pasta with rich tomato sauce and homemade potato gnocchi. Or risotto as I grew older and my palate dared incorporate new ideas.
The bacon bits are a new addition. And who can argue with the exponential improvement bacon brings to a recipe like this one, right? They round up this appetizer.
All the ingredients in this tomato bruschetta are staples in my kitchen, sometimes used for baking too, such as the lemon ricotta cake (amazing recipe, you should try it).
I find that well seasoned regular ricotta works best here, better than the more firm ones (ricotta salata is one) because they are easier to slather and have some extra moisture that balances the bread well. The crunchy salty bacon bits add a lot, though be careful not to overwhelm the toast with it. And tomatoes are always better if they are in season and heirloom, but cherry tomatoes work too, and they are easily available year-round.
An easy appetizer with all favorite Italian flavors, great to use those last summer tomatoes that will very soon disappear.
More recipes with ricotta:
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Ricotta Tomato Toast
An easy Italian appetizer that will bring raves, with toasted garlic bread, smooth ricotta cheese, tomatoes and bacon bits.
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 10 toasts
Ingredients
- 10 rustic bread slices
- 5 garlic cloves (peeled and cut in half)
- 9 oz or 1 cup whole milk ricotta
- 9 oz cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
- 3.5 oz bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Chopped chives or ciboulette
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 40ºF /200ºC.
- Place bread slices on a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil on both sides.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden.
- Take out from the oven and immediately rub half garlic cloves on one of the sides.
- Mix cut tomatoes with some olive oil and vinegar. Reserve.
- Mix ricotta with salt, black pepper, some chopped chives and a drizzle of olive oil. Make sure it is well salted and tasty.
- Mound a tablespoon or so of ricotta on each bread slice.
- Top with tomatoes, bacon bits, chives, black pepper and olive oil.
- Eat immediately.
Notes
I'm partial to this combination, but you can omit the cheese and bacon and make the classic bruschetta with just tomatoes, basil, olive oil and garlic if you want.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: bruschetta, tomato, ricotta
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