How to Make Authentic Italian Bruschetta

Preparation Marinate the chopped tomatoes in some of the extra-virgin olive oil for about 10 minutes.Toast the bread slices on a charcoal grill until golden-brown and lightly marked with grill lines. (You can also toast them in an oven or toaster, if grilling is not possible). Then gently rub the grilled slices of bread with the cut end of a raw garlic clove that you have sliced in half. Top each slice with the marinated tomatoes and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt and chopped fresh basil leaves. Add a light drizzle of a bit more of the extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.Cut each slice in half and serve immediately. Variations:If you omit the tomatoes and basil and just drizzle the garlic-rubbed toasted slices with extra-virgin olive oil, you have what is called fettunta (literally, "oily slice") in Tuscany, or the Italian version of garlic bread. Romans top their bruschetta with anchovies and fresh mozzarella.Sicilians might use fresh oregano instead of fresh basil.Another Tuscan favorite is white cannellini beans on top of the bruschetta instead of tomatoes, topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper.A winter version of Tuscan-style bruschetta uses boiled dinosaur (also known as Tuscan or lacinato) kale (cavolo nero). Here's a recipe for kale bruschetta.