Caprese bruschetta – an Italian triumph

Great as a starter or snack. This is a hungry panda favourite. It's just too yummy

Made with delicious home-made french baguette from dough made in the Zojirushi BB-HAQ10 bread maker and sun-dried tomato pesto.

You can buy sun-dried tomato pesto ready-made, but we make our own – it’s easy to do and we find it’s nicer than shop-bought!

AuthorHungry PandaCategoryDifficultyBeginner

Yields2 Servings
Prep Time15 minsCook Time5 minsTotal Time20 mins

Ingredients for sun-dried tomato pesto
 285 g jar of sun-dried tomatoes (drained weight around 145g)
 1 cup fresh basil
 1 clove crushed garlic
 1 pinch salt
 1 pinch black pepper
Ingredients for caprese bruschetta
 french baguette or ciabatta, sliced into round/ovals (slices should be about 4-5cm, otherwise they are too tall to eat!)
 5 sliced fresh tomatoes
 1 clove of garlic (cut a quarter of this off and set both pieces aside)
 200 g sun-dried tomato pesto
 200 g fresh mozarella sliced
 ½ cup fresh chopped basil
 1 pinch salt
 1 pinch black pepper
 1 ½ tsp olive oil

Method for sun-dried tomato pesto
1

Scoop out sun-dried tomatoes from the jar and add to a food processor

2

Add a pinch of salt and black pepper

3

Whizz for a few seconds in the food processor

4

Add crushed garlic, basil leaves, add a little of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes (or olive oil if you prefer)

5

Whizz until the pesto is a smooth paste. If needed, add more seasoning or oil.

6

Store in the cleaned sun-dried tomato jar in the fridge with a layer of olive oil on top.

Method for assembling the caprese bruschetta
7

Place french baguette/ciabatta pieces under a grill or in a panini/toasted sandwich maker to toast

8

While the bread is toasting, add the olive oil, the quarter piece of garlic, salt and pepper along with the tomatoes to heat through in a wok/frying pan. This is just to warm the tomatoes.

9

Once the tomatoes are cooked a little and warm, set aside and keep warm in tin foil

10

Remove the bread from the grill and rub the three quarters piece of garlic over the surface and put a teaspoon (or a teasoon and a half, depending on how big your bread slice is) of sun-dried tomato pesto on the piece of bread and spread evenly

11

Layer a piece of sliced mozzarella on top of the pesto and add several pieces of the warmed tomatoes on top

12

Sprinkle the fresh, chopped basil on top....then EAT!

Ingredients

Ingredients for sun-dried tomato pesto
 285 g jar of sun-dried tomatoes (drained weight around 145g)
 1 cup fresh basil
 1 clove crushed garlic
 1 pinch salt
 1 pinch black pepper
Ingredients for caprese bruschetta
 french baguette or ciabatta, sliced into round/ovals (slices should be about 4-5cm, otherwise they are too tall to eat!)
 5 sliced fresh tomatoes
 1 clove of garlic (cut a quarter of this off and set both pieces aside)
 200 g sun-dried tomato pesto
 200 g fresh mozarella sliced
 ½ cup fresh chopped basil
 1 pinch salt
 1 pinch black pepper
 1 ½ tsp olive oil

Directions

Method for sun-dried tomato pesto
1

Scoop out sun-dried tomatoes from the jar and add to a food processor

2

Add a pinch of salt and black pepper

3

Whizz for a few seconds in the food processor

4

Add crushed garlic, basil leaves, add a little of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes (or olive oil if you prefer)

5

Whizz until the pesto is a smooth paste. If needed, add more seasoning or oil.

6

Store in the cleaned sun-dried tomato jar in the fridge with a layer of olive oil on top.

Method for assembling the caprese bruschetta
7

Place french baguette/ciabatta pieces under a grill or in a panini/toasted sandwich maker to toast

8

While the bread is toasting, add the olive oil, the quarter piece of garlic, salt and pepper along with the tomatoes to heat through in a wok/frying pan. This is just to warm the tomatoes.

9

Once the tomatoes are cooked a little and warm, set aside and keep warm in tin foil

10

Remove the bread from the grill and rub the three quarters piece of garlic over the surface and put a teaspoon (or a teasoon and a half, depending on how big your bread slice is) of sun-dried tomato pesto on the piece of bread and spread evenly

11

Layer a piece of sliced mozzarella on top of the pesto and add several pieces of the warmed tomatoes on top

12

Sprinkle the fresh, chopped basil on top....then EAT!

Notes

Caprese bruschetta

The sun-dried tomato pesto will last for around a week in the fridge. It’s also delicious mixed through pasta with chunks of crumbly feta cheese.