The Julia Child Bruschetta recipe that's so good it brought my guests to tears. Olive Oil fried rustic bread topped with marinated tomatoes and basil.
If you're the kind of person who likes to cook, you know the satisfaction you get from serving someone food and having them smile at the end of eating it. If they actually mumble out a "Soooo goood" as they're eating it even better. Betty does that all the time when I feed her, (but she doesn't count because she makes the same sounds eating a TV dinner or a pistachio she swept up from behind the fridge.)
So the MMMMMMmmmmmm sounds are good, but the Holy Grail of feeding someone is bringing them to tears. Reducing a human being to a quaking, sobbing mess whose greatest fear in life is no longer death ... but the thought of never eating this delicious food again.
On August 22nd, 2014 such a miracle occurred in my kitchen. And then it happened again.
I thought it was just a fluke, like when people see Jesus in their Cream of Wheat, but when it happened a second time I knew I'd stumbled upon something pretty spectacular. Definitely more spectacular than a hairy fridge pistachio.
Do you want to know what this miracle food was? Bruschetta. But you knew that already if you read the title of this post.
This isn't just any bruschetta though, it's bruschetta inspired by the movie Julie & Julia which if you don't know, it's a movie based on Julie Powell's blog in which she chronicled her (successful) attempt to recreate every recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". GREAT premise for a blog.
In the movie the bruschetta looked and sounded so goooood. And if you watch the scene from the movie, Julie's husband does exactly what you want people to do when they eat your cooking. He says, "This is GOOOOD!"
Also I love whatshisname. Whatshisname is my favourite character on The Mindy Project right after Mindy. And the other guy who is so funny. You know. The nurse.
The Bruschetta Recipe
So you want to learn how to make this bruschetta? Want to learn how to bring someone to tears with your food? Here we go.
First of all a few tips:
1. Use fresh, crusty bread. Whole slices! Not a baguette.
2. FRY in olive oil. I mean it. You fry it.
3. Don't even attempt this if it isn't summer and you don't have fresh tomatoes.
Let's get started ...
You need bread, olive oil, tomatoes, basil and salt.
Dice a few fresh, local tomatoes. Extra points for heirloom and homegrown. Even if the home wasn't yours.
Tear up a handful of fresh basil and add it. Add lots if you love basil, little if you don't. I used this sized bunch for around 5 small-medium tomatoes.
I know you're alarmed that there's no fresh garlic in this recipe but there isn't. I'm not going to second guess Julia Child. It's is 100% delicious without the overpowering flavour of garlic. If you want to add garlic you can but I BEG you to try it without first.
Drizzle the tomatoes and basil with a good amount of olive oil and let stand for 30-45 minutes.
After 30 minutes, sprinkle with salt and pepper (I actually don't use pepper but go nuts if you're a pepper person) let sit for another 10 minutes or so.
Cover the bottom of a pan with olive oil until it's approximately 3mm deep. Just glug it in there. Heat pan over medium/low. Not too hot or your bread will burn, not too low or it'll just soak up a bunch of oil and get gross.
FRYING TIP
To test if your oil is hot enough to fry place the end of a wooden spoon in the oil. If the tip forms bubbles right away, it's at the right temperature to fry.
While the pan is heating, slice your crusty bread. I make my own bread using the master recipe from this cookbook, The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day but you don't have to make your own bread. Just use a fresh, dense, crusty loaf.
Fry bread slices in oil until browned or your tongue falls out of your mouth. Whichever comes first.
Remove bread from the pan and generously spoon the tomato mixture over the top. But first, maybe, just look at the golden brown, toasty, olive oil drenched goodness. Smell it. Love it.
O.K., NOW you can top it with your tomatoes and basil. Just spoon it right on there. Lots of it.
And now you eat it.
Bruschetta from the movie Julie & Julia
Ingredients
- 3 medium tomatoes heirloom and a variety of colours if you can get them.
- 3 large stems basil
- ½ cup olive oil good quality
- salt
- 4 slices bread hearty, crusty bread is best.
Instructions
- Dice tomatoes.Shred basil leaves.Mix tomatoes and basil in bowl with ¼ of olive oil, reserving other ¼ cup for frying.Let this mixture sit for 30 minutes.When the 30 minutes is up, add a generous sprinkling of salt to the mixture and let it sit for another 10 minutes.Now is when you can heat up ¼ cup of olive oil (your goal is to have 3mm of oil in the pan) over medium/low heat.Once hot, fry your slices of bread until golden.Remove bread from pan and top with tomato mixture.
Notes
Nutrition
I've listed this as a snack, but in the summer this could easily be a meal. Especially if you round it out with a big bowl of ice cream.
Serve the bruschetta HOT. With a box of Kleenex.
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Jennie Lee
I was reading down through the comments, and I was glad to see that Ev Wilcox and Janet agree with me. "Julie & Julia" is a great movie. Just this one time, readers, ignore Karen and watch the movie, if you haven't already. Karen, your bruschetta looks totally delicious.
Liz
I feel like I can taste it! Yummmmmmmmm.
awesomesauciness
Let me be sure I understand here...........so....you're saying NO garlic?
danni
...no garlic.
Wednesday is late to work day, so out in the garden harvesting, watering, fertilizing at the crack of dawn today. Read this while having cup #3 of coffee and bingo! Something else to do with the overflow of tomatoes! Lunch! Topping made as you suggest, but had to bring a frozen naan bread (made in Ida the Cob Oven,) for underneath. Can't wait for lunch!
Dale Lacina
Garlic, Garlic, Garlic!
Must be a lot of vampire haters out there!
Try this recipe once with and once without.
Isn't variety the spice of life?
PS Released two Monarchs to Ma Nature yesterday. They're in her hands now!
Tigersmom
I just scrolled back through the pictures and I have to add that the $40 (if I remember correctly) you spent on that gold flatware was truly money well spent. The gold is just beautiful in your photos.
Kim C
Garlic or no garlic, the photos you took for this are beautiful. :)
Maryanne
I'm going to make some today! Karen, what olive oil do you use? I've been searching for a decent olive oil at a good price point in the GTA...
Karen
Hi Maryanne! For my every day olive oil I use Costco's Kirkland brand olive oil or President's Choice. For things like this where I'm looking for a good olive oil I use Lorenzo No 5 Olive oil. ~ karen!
Tigersmom
Look at you! Eating tomatoes and loving them! You've come a long way, Baby!
And I personally applaud the omission of garlic. I see no reason to include anything that would alter the wonderful flavor of fresh never-been-refrigerated heirloom tomatoes. Good for you!
SuzyMcQ
I'm not going to jump on the no garlic bandwagon, but, instead will comment on the lovely flower petals beautifully styled on the linen cloth. Very inspiring.....
Karen
Thank you, lol. On both points. ~ karen!
Jules
Well, you really are adamant about the no garlic thing - seems like crackers with no cheese but I am going to trust you on this one and save myself some time and stink and ..... leave out the garlic! My tomatoes don't look quite as impressive or delicious as yours but I shall have faith in them also. Thanks for sharing.
Karen
LOLOL! Yes. I'm quite adamant about no garlic. First of all the ingredients aren't cooked so it would be raw garlic which would be so overpowering you wouldn't taste the tomatoes or basil or oil. I'm normally pretty freewheeling about my recipes saying you can do what you want with them. Add more of this or less of that ... but this one requires no garlic. It's not garlic bread. NO garlic. And your tomatoes will be fine as long as they're fresh homegrown or locally grown tomatoes! ~ karen
Karin
Your reference to Julie's blog got me to thinking.... If Hollywood made a movie of your blog, who would play you? I don't think Cameron Diaz could pull off your wit but you both have the leggy blond thing going on. Who would YOU pick? It's a fun party game.
Karen
Yes I've heard the Cameron Diaz thing before. Mainly from my niece and once from the Federal Express guy at the door, lol. I'd probably pick Christina Applegate. ~ karen!
Linda
I've never had bruschetta.. this is an inspiration to try something new.. the photos were awesome, I could smell the fresh basil and tomatoes... uuummmm soooo delish... Thank you Karen
janet
I need garlic! otherwise wonderful! I loved the Julie and Julia movie especially the flashbacks to Julia Childs' life in France. I dream of going to France.
Karen
Nope. No garlic. You can if you want, but garlic overpowers everything. You want to be tasting tomatoes and basil. Not garlic. Don't think of it as garlic bread. Think of it as a tomato sandwich. You wouldn't slice up garlic and put it on your toasted tomato sandwich. ~ karen!
Ev Wilcox
Garlic, yes! Never had this with such a pile of tomatoes, but I will now! BTW, I liked that movie a bunch, prob because Julia is one of the people I would have liked to meet! going to make this for my daughter and her two little girls very soon. Thanks Karen!
Jill Riley
This sounds absolutely wonderful--gonna raid my garden before dinner tonight! I always avoid frying stuff because I don't know what to do with the excess oil, and I hate just throwing it away. Any suggestions?
Jan in Waterdown
Try straining it through a fine sieve into a jar, put it in the fridge and use it next time. That's what my mom did. She was sooooo thrifty!
Karen
Don't worry Jill. It'll all be sucked up by the toast. ~ karen!
Karen Johnston
No garlic and fried bread?
I just added a crusty loaf to my shopping list:)
What kind of Olive Oil do you use?
There is an over whelming amount of info out there about oils in general.
Lately I've been using Avacado Oil instead of Olive Oil?
Karen
No. No garlic. Just like you probably wouldn't put garlic on a tomato sandwich. I use a good bottle of Olive Oil. Lorenzo No5. It's normally around $40 a bottle, but I just found some on Amazon for 2 bottles for $50 including delivery which is a really good price. If it was in Canada I'd order it myself. ~ karen!
Susan
A good toasted tomato sandwich was one of the things missing in my life since I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. Along with chicken wings and beer. Gluten free bread just doesn't taste the same with garden tomatoes or green onions and cheese. But I've discovered that Udi's French baguette and olive oil are a marriage made in heaven and I've been scarfing down toasted tomato sandwiches all week. Now you've given me something new to try with it and I can't wait until lunch time! The baguette might last a little longer, too, sliced across instead of lengthwise, which is how I've been making my sandwiches. Thank you, and if you could find a gluten free beer that tastes like the real thing, I'd die happy.
cbblue
Looks wonderful Karen. Sadly my tomatoes are rather peaked. I love bruschetta with a balsamic vinegar reduction; it adds a zingy sweetness. I am now hungry for bruschetta in any fashion.
Elen G
I sure did enjoy watching them eat in this movie. Great scene choice! Okay. I have to get this book on bread. The end.