Starters
Tomato Bruschetta
Thick slices of crusty bread toasted until charred at the edges, rubbed with raw garlic and piled with ripe chopped tomatoes, torn basil, extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Serves 4
- Hands-on 15 min
- Stand 10–15 min
- Makes 12 pieces
- Best with ripe, in-season tomatoes
- Italian
Method
Put the tomatoes (6 tomatoes) in a sieve over a bowl with a good pinch of salt and leave for 10–15 minutes so the excess juice drains away. This keeps the toasts crisp.
Tip the drained tomatoes into a bowl with the onion (½ red onion), torn basil (10 g), olive oil (4 tbsp) and balsamic vinegar (1 tsp). Season with black pepper and stir gently.
Toast the bread (300 g) on a hot griddle pan, under the grill or on a barbecue for 1–2 minutes each side, until crisp and lightly charred at the edges.
While the toasts are hot, rub one side of each with the cut side of the garlic (1 clove). The rough surface grates the garlic like a fine grater.
Spoon the tomato mixture on to the garlic side just before serving, drizzle with a little more oil and eat straight away.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
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See also
Chef’s notes
- Bruschetta is the toast itself; the tomato topping is only one of many. In Tuscany the plain oiled toast is called fettunta.
- Add a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes for a deeper flavour, as the most-rated Allrecipes version does, or finish with grated mozzarella under the grill.
- Do not top the toasts more than a few minutes ahead or they go soggy. Keep the topping and the toasts apart until the last moment.
Toast for the new olive oil
The word comes from the Roman dialect verb bruscare, “to toast” or “to roast over coals”. In its simplest form bruschetta is just grilled bread with garlic, olive oil and salt, a way of tasting the new season’s oil and of using up bread that was going stale.
Elizabeth David brought it to English readers in Italian Food (1954), noting that in the olive-oil districts of Tuscany and Umbria bruschetta was eaten with the newly made oil. The tomato-topped version that most British and American menus mean by bruschetta is only one of many Italian toppings.
Sources for these notes
For the history above.
How this recipe was developed
We compared the tomato bruschetta on BBC Good Food with the two most-rated bruschetta recipes on Allrecipes (Double Tomato and Balsamic).
- Drain the tomatoes. BBC Good Food’s member recipe chops and drains the tomatoes; we salt them in a sieve for 10 minutes for a crisper toast.
- Garlic on the toast. We rub the hot toast with raw garlic, the Italian way, rather than mixing crushed garlic into the topping.
- A little balsamic. BBC Good Food and both Allrecipes versions add balsamic vinegar; we keep it to a teaspoon and optional so the tomatoes lead.
- Serve at once. We top the toasts at the last minute so they stay crisp.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- BBC Good Food (Chiwong (member recipe)): Tomato bruschetta (4.8/5, 135 ratings)
- Allrecipes (Loll): Double Tomato Bruschetta (4.8/5, 3172 ratings)
- Allrecipes (Kathy Bias): Balsamic Bruschetta (4.8/5, 1273 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.