You can experiment with different toppings, but here are a couple of my favourites and each one makes enough for 4 small bruschettas. Taleggio is a semi-soft Italian cheese that melts beautifully but if you don’t have any, use any other cheese that melts well, such as Gruyère. Blue cheese is good too.
Ingredients
- 4 slices of good sourdough or other firm wholemeal bread
- 1 garlic clove, halved lengthways
- olive oil
Mushroom and Taleggio Topping
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 10 g butter
- 400 g portobellini or button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- a few sprigs of thyme
- 4 slices of taleggio cheese
- salt and black pepper
Broad Bean, Ham and Ricotta Topping
- 200 g broad beans (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 slices of Parma ham, pulled into small pieces
- 4 tbsp fresh ricotta
- a squeeze of lemon juice
- a few torn basil leaves
- salt and black pepper
How to Make It
- Toast the slices of bread. Rub one side of each slice with the cut garlic, then drizzle with a little olive oil.
- To make the mushroom topping, preheat the grill to its highest setting. Put the olive oil and butter in a frying pan. When the butter starts to foam, add the mushrooms, garlic and thyme and season with salt and black pepper. Cook over a high heat, stirring regularly, until the mushrooms have cooked through and browned.
- Divide the mushrooms between the slices of bread and put the cheese on top. Put the bruschetta under the grill until the cheese has melted and is bubbling.
- To make the broad bean, ham and ricotta topping, bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add the broad beans. Cook them for 4 minutes, then drain. Slip the greyish skin off each bean and discard.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Add the ham and fry it briefly until brown, then add the broad beans and season with salt and black pepper.
- Spread a tablespoon of ricotta over each slice of toast. Divide the broad bean and ham mix between the bruschetta. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil, then sprinkle with basil leaves before serving.
