Tomato Parsley Bruschetta With Onion, Garlic, Olive & Sesame Oil
I can still taste those delicious bruschettas at an exquisite Italian restaurant that me and girlfriend used to dine at (well, she’s now my wife hehe!).
That amazing first bite, full of aromatic freshness! The sweetness from the tomatoes, the unique fragrance from the basil (how can you miss that?), that touch of extra virgin olive oil, combined to perfection and when they were spread onto those thick, beautiful and crusty char grilled baguette slices…boy oh boy!
Though prices were expensive, but we would go back every year for our anniversary celebrations….regrettably until 2010.
Oh don’t get me wrong, we are still very happily married.
I mean, how can she leave me?
I cook like a 3 michelin star chef now HAHA!
Hey come on! At least my kids thinks so…
But since 2010, I don’t know what went wrong with that restaurant but their food just never tasted the same. I guess their head chef must have either retired, got hijacked by a competitor or have decided to open his own fine dining restaurant to make the bigger bucks.
Either way, he was bloody good I tell you and whatever the case may be, I sincerely wish him all the very best!
Though bruschetta was just one of the many appetizers we like to order (by the way, we actually call them entrees here). But this dish has a special place in our heart and not being able to taste that, well…let’s just say our evening wasn’t complete.
I can still remember it very clearly because to be honest, I was reasonably mad that day. Yes I was and if you have been following my blog, you should know that I have a certain level of expectation when it comes to food.
Really…anything else, I can easily close my eyes and play forget. But when it comes to food…especially if I had to deliberately book one month in advance just so that I can taste the cuisine. Well, you better give me what I want or I will be very upset.
Unfortunately, the worst case scenario happened that evening and not just because of the bruschetta (though it was a primary cause), but all the other dishes that we normally order also tasted different!!
Serious, I have many rather sensitive taste buds so I know what I’m talking about.
Anyways, so after dinner and movie that night, I decided to go home and make my own bruschetta for supper. You know, I just wanted things to finish on a high note.
Now if you don’t have a fussy tongue like i do, then the ingredients are actually really simple and it’s very easy to make.
Mine is slightly different from the classic and I’ll explain why in a second. There is a slight twist to it, but just trust me on this because you’re gonna love it!
Here’s my recipe and i’ll take you through it step by step.
Simple delicious bruschetta recipe replacing basil with parsley, then add in an extra element of sesame oil for a fragrantly tasty twist.
Ingredients
- Baguette or french stick - 6 thick slices
- Butter - 10g
- Tomato - 1 qty (diced)
- Garlic - 2 gloves (finely chopped)
- Red Onion - 1/4 (thinly diced)
- Fresh Parsley - 5g (finely chopped)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
- Sesame Oil - 1 tsp
- Lemon - 1 thin wedge
- Salt
- Black Pepper
Instructions
- Cut baguette stick into 6 thick slices and place each onto a hot pan.
- Allow bread slice to grill on the pan until one side turns golden brown. Remove from pan and place on a plate.
- Place butter onto pan and tilt the pan so that melted butter will spread evenly.
- Place the bread slices back onto the pan with the uncooked side down and careful wipe each onto the melted butter so that all are coated evenly.
- Remove toasted bread slices once it turns golden brown and leave on the plate with the buttered side facing up.
- To make the topping, start dicing tomato (1 qty) and place into a large bowl.
- Finely chop garlic (2 gloves) and place into same bowl.
- Thinly dice red onion (1/4) and place into same bowl
- Finely chop fresh parsley and place into same bowl.
- Add extra virgin olive oil (1 tbsp)
- Add a squeeze of lemon juice (1 thin wedge)
- Add salt and pepper accordingly
- Add sesame oil (1 tsp) and mix the bowl thoroughly.
- Place mixture onto each crusty bread slice and your appetizer is served.
Notes
There are many different ways to make the crusty bread, but I found that using a pan works really well for me. It gives a nice char finish and makes it a lot easier for me to melt and spread the butter.
Of course, you can always make your own toast differently, whether using a grill or as easy as using a toaster. Just whichever ways that suits you.
Now you may be wondering why the hell are there no basils in this recipe?
I’m not gonna lie because I really did run out of fresh basil that evening. I did have dried ones though, but they taste nowhere near the same so you can forget about using those.
And if you have been reading my anniversary dinner story above, then you can imagine how furious I was…
Fortuitously (how did i even come up with that word??), I had some really fine FRESH parsley to use so I just changed the “traditional” recipe by switching things around. I mean, they are both herbs, right?
And was I WRONG!!
After I mixed everything together, it tasted like tabouli.
Oh no, I thought to myself and with my wife also eagerly waiting to taste my bruschetta (Oh yes, and no dirty thoughts please!). There was just no way on earth I’m going to serve her tabouli on a toast, not on our anniversary, uh-uh!
So I searched everything in my kitchen that I could possibly use, to perhaps, and somehow elevate the flavors.
The list of things I looked at and brainstormed in my head (just to see if it’ll work) was humongous, but to give you a few ideas. They include:
- Mayonnaise (What was I thinking??)
- Mushroom
- Bacon
- Coconut Milk (Huh?)
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Cayenne Pepper
- Tabasco
- Left over chicken from last night
- Fish Sauce
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Maple Syrup
- Peanut Butter (Gosh!)
- Well, you get the point…
Then I finally saw it!
A gorgeous bottle of healthy sesame oil that I mainly use in salads and asian cooking.
You see, I didn’t want to add any toppings that will overpower the dish. I don’t how to explain this, but for some strange profound reason, I had a really good feeling about using this oil.
So I tested it by adding a few drops of sesame oil into my tomato parsley salsa, that’s basically what it was and OMG!! It immediately gave some life to that same old boring tabouli tang. Straight away, I added another teaspoon in and oh boy, it was totally out of this world!
And that’s how my tomato parsley bruschetta with sesame oil recipe came to light.
Just trust me on this guys, try it out and I promise you won’t regret it.
Serve it on some white crusty bread. It doesn’t have to be on baguettes and you can even use sourdough for all I care, but make sure you toast it properly! Just use my pan grill toasting method or whatever.
Follow my instructions above, combine all the elements together and just dive in!
Happy Eating 🙂
Oh and please don’t forget to SHARE with other people! I bet you they haven’t tasted this sesame oil version before.
