Peach & Tomato Bruschetta

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Peak peach and tomato season is unparalleled. It is truly one of the most lovely and glorious times of the year. When a piece of fruit on its own with no to minimal extra seasoning burst with flavor and joy in your mouth, you know its good.

Last summer I came up with this peach and tomato bruschetta when I had a surplus of both from the farmer's market and needed different ways to use them up before they turned. This recipe is so simple and really is a bite of summer with the sweet peaches, juice tomatoes, and floral addition of fresh basil. I could eat an entire bowl of this myself and honestly wouldn't feel bad if I did. It's perfect for a summer gathering or a bright, summery, and light lunch.

If you're serving it up at a party, I recommend keeping the peach and tomato mixture in a bowl separate from the crostini and let folks top the crostini themselves. If the peaches and tomatoes sit on the crostini for much time at all, they will get soggy and be exponentially less appetizing. This method also allows you to save any leftovers for future snacking.

As I'm writing this post, we have a heat index over 100° here in Nashville and will continue to for at least the next two weeks (gross). When it gets this hot out, I always look for ways to minimize actual cooking to keep the house and me cool. While this recipe requires some short oven time to make the crostini, it's super fast and there are ways around it: Use a toaster oven, buy pre-made crostini, or sub pre-made pita chips for the bread.

I hope you'll give this bite a summer a try. It's so simple and bursting with the tastes of summer that you really can only get during this (very hot) time of year.

Peach & Tomato Bruscketta
Makes ~ 1.5 - 2 C. of bruschetta mixture
Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 8-10 minutes

Click the file below to download and print the recipe

Peach & Tomato Bruschetta.pdf

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I recommend reading the recipe all the way through, including the recipe notes at the bottom, before you start cooking.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe peaches (freestone varieties preferred)

• 1 large tomato (such as beefsteak) (or 2 small vine-ripened)

• 1 TB olive oil (+ more for making crostini)

• 2.5 tsp. balsamic vinegar

• 10-12 fresh basil leaves

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1/4 tsp. pepper

• Baguette

Directions:

1. First make your crostini by heating your oven to 425° and cutting a baguette into 1/4" slices. Cut as many slices as crostini you want. I recommend at least 20 or so for this recipe.

2. Line the baguette slices on a baking sheet and drizzle each piece with a little bit of olive oil. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the oil so it covers each slice completely. Sprinkle each piece with a small pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden brown then remove from the oven to cool.

3. To make the bruschetta, cut both your peaches and tomato(es) into a small dice, making sure both the peaches and tomato are a similar size dice. Transfer to a large enough bowl for mixing.

4. Stack the basil leaves on top of one another then roll it up like a cigar. Cut the basil across to make thin strips (chiffonade)

5. To the bowl with the peaches and tomato pieces, add the 1 TB olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Using a large spoon, gently mix everything together so everything is evenly coated. Add in the thinly sliced basil then stir again. Check for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, and/or balsamic as needed.

6. Transfer the bruschetta mixture to a serving bowl and the cooled crostini to a serving platter. Allow guests to serve themselves by spooning the peaches and tomatoes onto their own crostini.

7. Store leftover bruschetta mixture in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store leftover crostini in an airtight container or ziptop bag at room temperature.

*Recipe notes + Variations*

It is best to serve this with the bruschetta mixture in a bowl and the crostini separately on the side and allow folks to spoon the mixture onto their own crostini when they're ready to eat one. While it looks beautiful to plate them up ahead of time, the mixture will quickly make the crostini very soggy and unappetizing. It will also make it nearly impossible to save any leftovers.

This recipe can be easily changed to use nectarines instead of peaches if you prefer those or that's what you have on hand.

If it's HOT outside and you don't want to turn on your oven to make the crostini, try using a toaster oven if you have one, buy pre-made crostini from your grocery store's bakery section, or use pita chips instead.

The amount of olive oil and balsamic may fluctuate depending on the size of your peaches and tomato(es).

There is no need to peel the skin off the peaches first. But if you prefer to, I recommend checking out the instructions for how to easily do this from The Peach Truck (just stop in the process after the peaches have been peeled).