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I love bruschetta, and being able to make it at home is the best. It took me awhile to figure out how to make it right, but I think I'm getting there. I made some this morning to share at a family dinner with my in-laws, and here's how.

You need:

4 off the vine tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic
1 small bunch of basil
splash of olive oil (I used garlic infused extra virgin)
dash of pepper (to taste)

First, get super ripe tomatoes. The redder and more soft the better as they have the most flavor. Cut the tomato in fourths and trim out the hard pinkish stuff inside each fourth. Remove most of the seeds and juice, so you really only have the outer flesh of the tomato. Keep a few seeds and a bit of the juice, but not all of it as it will make the bruschetta too watery. Take the remaining tomato fourth and slice it in half longways, then slice it into smaller pieces.

For the garlic, I recommend a garlic press. I have had my own kitchen for over ten years and just got a garlic press in 2013. Holy shit do I regret not getting one sooner! If you don't have one, very thinly minced garlic will do just fine.

For the basil, I not only remove the large stem, but I also remove the stem or vein that is in the middle of each leaf. It isn't a science, so doesn't need to be perfect. I just pull either side of the leaf off the middle vein. Easy peasy! I used about ten medium sized leaves.

Once you de-stem the leaves, grab half the leaves in a bunch and roll them up in one of the large leaves. Turn the rolled up leaves horizontally and cut the roll into small slices. Having the basil rolled up in a leaf makes this a lot easier! Do the same with the other half of leaves and then take the strips and dice them a bit.

Once you have all the ingredients sliced and minced and blah-blah-blah, add them to a small bowl (I used a cereal bowl and there was plenty of room). Before stirring everything together throw in a bit of pepper (I love pepper so used a lot, just depends on what you like), and add a splash of olive oil. Take a spoon and gently fold the ingredients together, after that chill for a while before serving.

I like to serve mine as an appetizer with lightly toasted baguette slices. You can also add parmesan or mozzarella cheese (the soft fresh kind is the best!). For a meal, I sauté italian style chicken sausage with peppers and onion, then serve it as open faced sandwiches with garlic toast and the bruschetta as a topping. It's one of my favorites!

Hope you like the recipe. Happy bruschetta making!