Pan-Seared Winter Bruschetta with Goat Cheese

We’ve hit the doldrums of winter here … that time of year when everyone is just yearning for spring and every snowstorm and chilly day makes us grumpy. Perhaps we just need a little taste of summer to liven up our dreary midwinter lives. Why can’t we have bruschetta in the midst of a cold, gray winter?

Store-bought fresh tomatoes are usually worthless, but you CAN find some good cherry tomatoes even in the dead of winter … and cherry tomatoes along with some garlic, olive oil, sweet onion, and balsamic vinegar make for a delightful bruschetta, especially if you spread your little toasts with tangy goat cheese. The cherry tomatoes I had weren’t even really all that tasty, but once they had a little spin in the pan with the garlic and olive oil and just a splash of balsamic, the lovely sweet tomato taste re-surfaced and they tasted just like summer.

I only have purple basil (since my green basil plants died), but green basil will be even prettier. Do use fresh basil … it’s really best to get yourself a little basil plant that will keep on making more basil the more you pick it. Always make sure to cut off the blossoms when they happen or your basil will go to seed and die. If you keep the basil plant trimmed of blossoms, it will just keep on producing as long as you water it and keep it in a sunny spot.

If you make extra, you MIGHT just have enough left over to make Bruschetta soup.

Pan Seared Winter Bruschetta with Goat Cheese

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 12 - 15 little toasts 1x

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Ingredients

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• 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 2 – 5 cloves of garlic, peeled & chopped fine
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 3/4 – 2 cups of cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 additional teaspoon olive oil
• Several fresh basil leaves, rolled and sliced (chiffonade)

For the bruschetta:

• freshly toasted slices of french bread
• goat cheese, softened

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Instructions

1. Chop up the onion and garlic. In a small frying pan, heat the 2 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and stir and cook until the onion is soft and translucent and the garlic turns golden brown. Stir in the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, cook and stir for a few minutes until the tomatoes start to wilt. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in the extra olive oil and basil leaves. Toast the bread, spread with goat cheese and top with the tomato mixture. Garnish with extra basil leaves or flowers if you like.
3. Enjoy!

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Notes

RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/

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This recipe was shared at Simple Supper Tuesday, The Weekend Retreat, Get Him Fed Friday, Sunday Dinner and Mixer Monday.