Warm Tomato Bruschetta with Mozzarella
The perfect appetizer when summer tomatoes are ripe and bursting with flavor, this Warm Tomato Bruschetta with Mozzarella is both beautiful and delicious.
Warm tomatoes kissed with the sun epitomize summer for me. I love seasonal tomatoes so much that I hesitate to eat tomatoes any other time of the year, they just don’t measure up. Favorite dishes include this tomato pie and this salad with mozzarella, tomato, avocado and pine nuts.
Still, I think this simple dish of Warm Tomato Bruschetta with Mozzarella is my favorite and thought it worthy of pulling from the archives.
There is nothing fussy, simply some warm, crusty bread topped with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes that are dressed with a touch of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, herbs, salt and pepper. This week this simple but outstanding dish is my contribution to the Food Network’s #SummerSoiree theme of tomatoes. Be sure to check out the links after the recipe for even more wonderful tomato recipes.
I grew up in the Midwest, in a suburb of St. Louis. Where a shovel meeting dirt resulted in something I never appreciated until I left. Warm, brown, magical dirt. Where tomatoes grew that fit the palm of your hand and a tomato sandwich with salt and mayonnaise were all you needed. I appreciate those tomatoes the most now that they are simply the stuff of legends for me.
Denver’s soil is filled with clay and needs to be hugely amended to be fit for planting anything but beyond that?
Our altitude, the late seasonal planting date and the cool nights simply are not conducive to tomatoes like Missouri was…so I often find that cherry tomatoes are my favorite and I loved the two colors that I found at this past weekend’s farmers market. Cute, colorful and tasty; perfect for this bruschetta.
I am growing tomatoes in some large pots but as hard as it might be for those of you with early planting dates to believe, I’ve not harvested any yet. Our normal date to plant and hope we’ve missed the last freeze is May 15 but we had non-stop rain and a couple of hailstorms this spring so I waited a bit longer and my little tomato crop has been delayed.
I’ve just got two kinds, some cherry tomatoes and two nice plants of Early Girl. They are starting to turn orange so yes, I’m excited that soon, VERY soon I will have my first homegrown tomato sandwich followed by this simple dish. In the meantime, the farmers market it is.
And I have to admit, these were pretty perfect. I need to find some plants that produce the little yellow tomatoes; I love the color combination in this finished dish.
While the tomatoes rein supreme in this dish, the other ingredients need to have some klout too. Good olive oil too. Do you remember the first time you had olive oil? I do…and I did not like it either. Much like my first experience with butter after growing up with margarine; it took some getting used to.
Well, I’m beyond used to it now and love it and any dish with fresh ingredients like this calls for good olive oil.
Actually the simplicity of ingredients calls for good everything; olive oil, fresh mozzarella (not shredded), fresh herbs and a gorgeous loaf of Tuscan boule combine with the star of the show, the best tomatoes. I’m convinced I need to make this again very soon; how about you?
What a terrific list of fresh tomato dishes from my fellow bloggers. Overrun with tomatoes? Now you have no excuses about what to do with them!
The Heritage Cook: Rice and Cheese Stuffed Roasted Tomatoes (Gluten-Free)
Homemade Delish: Sweet Tomato Jam
Healthy Eats: 7 Seasonal Uses for Fresh Tomatoes
Creative Culinary: Warm Tomato and Mozzarella Bruschetta (You’re Here!)
Weelicious: Heirloom Tomato Salad
Dishin & Dishes: Cobb Salad with Homemade Roasted Onion Vinaigrette
Domesticate Me: 10 Totally Awesome Tomato Recipes
Swing Eats: Tiny Insalata Caprese
The Wimpy Vegetarian: Tomato and Swiss Tart
Elephants and the Coconut Trees: Tomato Pickle
Taste with the Eyes: Quiche with a Black Quinoa Crust, Heirloom Tomatoes, Spinach, Goat Cheese
The Lemon Bowl: 5-Ingredient Slow Cooker Beef & Eggplant
FN Dish: 10 Ways to Be a Tomato Whisperer
PIN IT! ‘Warm Tomato and Mozzarella Bruschetta’
Warm Tomato Bruschetta with Mozzarella
Ingredients
- 6-8 slices of good crusty Italian bread
- 8 oz of fresh mozzarella sliced thin
- 16 oz of fresh tomatoes - I had cherry tomatoes and they were perfect cut in half
- Olive Oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Leaves from either oregano or basil chopped
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Slice cherry tomatoes in half or if using larger tomatoes, chop then into good size chunks and let them drain. Drizzle with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and gently toss them to coat.
- Slice the bread and lay the slices on a cookie sheet (or two if necessary)
- Brush the top with olive oil and bake for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Layer the slices of mozzarella on top of each slice of bread, top with the tomatoes and return the bread to the oven for 2-3 minutes to warm the tomatoes and soften the cheese.
- Remove from oven; drizzle with more olive oil, top with herb(s) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Wow, this dish is created with fresh tomatoes, and I just adore it.
Looks Yummy!!!! I’m going out to the market shortly to pick up what I need to make this…supper tonight!!!!!
I just made this wonderful bruschetta…it was awesome!!!!! I drizzled some balsamic reduction over top before serving…I’m going to make more later for my supper. Thank you so much for sharing Barb!
So glad you love it too; on my menu for dinner. It and nothing else! Thanks for letting me know.
Love this combination. This dish just says summer.
Our tomatoes did OK this year, but just OK. Good crop from the cherry tomatoes, but everything else was kinda bleh. Too much rain early, and then really hot weather — so a meager crop, and our plants are almost all burned out now (and this is despite watering the heck out of them once the rains stopped). Anyway, such a lovely dish. Love the photos — specular highlights on tomatoes just look so great, don’t they? Terrific dish — thanks.
This looks delicious! So simple, so elegant, so seasonal and so fresh.
It was so good Kirsten I think I could have eaten nothing else for days except that I finally ran out of tomatoes! SO good.
Those tomatoes look so beautiful. Tomatoes, Mozz, and Basil make up one of my favorite combinations. In fact, a sandwich made up of those ingredients is for dinner tonight. This would make such a good appetizer for any get-together.
I loved it so much I bought ingredients again…it’s so simple and with fresh tomatoes, all I need for a meal but you’re right would be equally good as an appetizer. I want one now! 🙂
Your bruschetta looks just beautiful… those tomatoes, that bread, YUM! I’ve never liked it in restaurants, but I bet I’d love this recipe. Also, I hear you on butter and olive oil… I grew up in the Midwest as well, and as I say in my “about” page on my site… margarine used to be my BFF. Sad, but true. I used to go through a tub of it a month! Hahaha, glad those days are over! 🙂
What’s better than tomato and mozzarella? Looks amazing. I could eat that whole plate full, then go looking for more.
This is my kind of food. Looks delicious.
Thanks Rachel…and hope you are actually able to eat a bit now; this would be perfect. Light and tasty.
It’s like you knew exactly what I’ve been craving lately. This is what I’ve wanted but haven’t taken the time to make. The tomatoes are popping out of my screen–wish I could grab one of those bruschettas. 🙂
I just love bruschetta and would be happy if I was served one every single day. Yours look divine. I wish it were tomato season already!
When I was 7 years old, my friend Lisa Postle and I would pilfer the tomatoes from her dad’s garden. We ate them like apples, the juices flowing down our shirts and dripping from our elbows. Your picture inspired me! Making fresh tomato & mozzarella skewers, drizzled with some of my secret-stash balsamic. Yummy!
This is the first time I’ve seen brushetta with the tomatoes halved like this. I’m not a lover of tomatoes but I have to say that this little snack looks so wonderful. That Tuscan Boule looks amazing. I love artisans bread…with lots of butter and cheese 😉
Gorgeous and my idea of a perfect summer meal. This summer when we were in Italy, my in-law’s neighbor knocked on the door with a plate of bruschetta his wife had just made on her fresh bread with the most incredible mozzarella. I think I may have eaten it all by myself;)
Shhh…you’ve just told MY secret. Well, it was dinner right?
I can’t wait until my tomatoes ripen so I can try this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
I thought I was over growing tomatoes but I have missed them this year…already planning some for next year; I love these little yellow ones mixed with the red cherry tomatoes.
That is one gorgeous plate of food!
It turned out pretty didn’t it but you know what/ Tasted even better than it looked!
Yum! your photos are gorgeous Barb…
Thanks Doreen; you know that my photo skills are a work in progress; your kind comments make me so very happy.
Beautiful, Barb! My mouth is watering!
Crazy as it sounds but when I saw that photo this morning? Mine too! I could eat that every single day when tomatoes are at their prime.
This is what I loved about eating in Italy: few ingredients, each at the height of the season so full of flavor. Few perfect ingredients blended just so to create simple, flavorful dishes like this. Really the perfect summer meal, don’t you think?
Italy or Colorado it’s my favorite thing. I’m going to start sharing more of the simple things I love to make. My life is not all cakes and cocktails. 🙂
My neighbor brought me beautiful tomatoes from her garden yesterday. This will be the perfect way to enjoy them. Yours look great!
Lucky neighbor. Lucky you. Jealous me. 🙂
A few great ingredients thoughtfully combined – the essence of great cooking!
Isn’t that the truth Mick; sometimes we try too hard to outdo ourselves and forget the basics. Good ingredients prepared simply is always the best!
I am kicking myself for not growing my patio heirlooms this year. They are so much trouble but worth every bit of fuss. My daughter brought home some homegrown tomatoes from her boss’s family in Iowa. Those have to be the best tomatoes I had all year. I wish I still had a few, I’d make this bruschetta recipe.
Heirlooms schmeirlooms…I’m just mad I didn’t do some cherry tomatoes! Maybe I’ll give them another shot next year. I have missed them bad!
This is, for me, probably one of the most perfect ways to enjoy fresh summer tomatoes. A few simple, best quality ingredients that let the flavor of the tomatoes shine!
SO perfect with summer tomatoes!! And these bruschetta are stunning with the yellow and red combination of cherry tomatoes 🙂
Thanks Liz; I love those little guys. I quit growing tomatoes because they really are a pain here but thinking I might try to find my own yellow and red little orbs for next year and give them a shot. I could eat this every single day.