Bruschette Formaggio e Pere - Bruschette Cheese and Pears

This recipe is a very peculiar Italian appetizer.

Like with the normal bruschetta the bread can make a lot of differences.

It must be a kind of bread that, when toasted, keeps the humidity inside.

Dutch traditional bread is not very suitable for this recipe.

Best is always fresh baguette/stockbrood.

INGREDIENTS for 4 people:

• 4 slices of Pane Casareccio
• Brie cheese
• Gorgonzola cheese
• 1 quite ripe pear Kaiser or handpere
• honey
• walnuts 

Toast the bread under the grill of the oven or in a toaster.

Let it be crunchy but not hard!

Let it cool down a bit allowing the humidity to evaporate.

Spread the bread with the Brie Cheese or Gorgonzola, or a mix of both!

Dispose the bread in and oven plate and warm it under the oven grill to let melt the cheese. Don’t let the cheese fry! Just warm up!

In the meanwhile warm up in a small pot the honey and nuts. The Honey has to liquefy without cooking!

Wash the pear and slice it very thin avoiding the hard core.

Dispose the bruschette on a big serving plate.

Put a very thin slice of pear over the cheese.

Pour over it the warm honey and nuts.

Serve it warm and…

BUON APPETITO !!!

Bruschette al Pomodoro - Bruschette with Tomatoes

This recipe is indeed very simple! But is the bread that makes all the difference in taste!

It must be a kind of bread that, when toasted, keeps the humidity inside. In Italy this bread is called Pane Casareccio.

The slices of the bread must be quite wide, whit a soft spongy internal part, and a crust not too thick. Dutch traditional bread is not very suitable for this recipe

INGREDIENTS for 4 people:

- 4 slices of Pane Casareccio

- red tomato cherries / Roma tomatoes grapes

- salt

- pepper

- 2 big garlic cloves
- extra virgin olive oil

- fresh basil leaves

Chop the tomatoes in very small blocks and put them in a bowl with a pinch of salt and let it stand for allowing the excess of water to run out.

Remove the skin from the garlic cloves. Cut one clove in half and keep one part on a side. Reduce in very small pieces the rest of the garlic with the help of a sharp knife and throw them in the mortar.

Add in the mortar the olive oil, some basil leaves, the salt and pepper and eventually the herbs you would like to add.

Add a bit of the tomatoes water and throw away the rest.

Squeeze and work the mixture very well till reduce it in a fine oily mixture.

Toast the bread under the grill of the oven or in a toaster.

Let it be crunchy but not hard!

Let the bread cool down a bit.

Dispose the bruschette on a big serving plate.

Whit the help of a spoon lay down the tomatoes over the bread.

Pour the oil mixture over the Bruschetta and serve it decorated with fresh basil leaves and …

BUON APPETITO !!!!

Pinzimonio

Also in Italian!

Pinzimonio is the name that we give to the sauce in which fresh raw vegetables get dipped. It's a light, healthy appetizer that can be served in any season serving with what the land offers.

The best veggies to serve "in pinzimonio" are:

• tomatoes
• peppers
• endives
• onions (normal, spring or red)
• salad with small leaves
• cucumber
• fennel
• celery
• avocado

The Pinzimonio must be prepared only with:

• pure extra virgin olive oil
• lemon or vinegar
• salt

to which eventually according with taste, add:

• basil
• parsley
• thyme
• sage
• chivesp
• pepper
• chili pepper
• yogurt
• mustard
• etc...

To create the pinzimonio sauce mix the olive oil with the herbs, the lemon/vinegar and the salt with the help of a fork or a whisk until it become an emulsion.

Serve the veggies cut in small sticks arranged in a big serving plate to place in the center of the table with the oil in a small bowl placed in the center of the plate

To serve individually use transparent glasses with the oil at the bottom and all the veggies arranged inside like small colored crayons.