We prepared bruschetta this week, perfect for a summer apero, starter or as a tapa. This old recipe dates from the 15th century in Italy, but can be traced back to the roman empire. We went to Oxfam to get some Italian ingredients that we felt were the best for us. In Italy, specially in the south, the mafia supposes a structural problem, their power reaches big companies, bureaucracy and some city halls. Moreover, the control of the mafia over the agriculture of the country makes it sometimes difficult to know if the Italian product that we can buy was produced by these criminal organizations.

However, these days there exists initiatives around Italy to provide alimentary products that ensure their production far from the hands of the mafia. It is the case of the products that you can find in Oxfam by the brand Libera Terra (freed land). We decided ourselves for Italian southern products such as the sicilian aubergine caponata, the pugliese sun dried tomatoes and organic red pesto, but there are other appealing options like tapenade, passata or salsa piccante.

The Bruschetta we made this week counts with the following ingredients:

• A loaf of ciabatta bread
• 1 pot of Fair trade aubergine caponata
• 1 pot of Fair trade sun dried tomatoes
• 1 can of organic red pesto
• Goat cheese
• Some chopped chives
• Olive oil
• A few cloves of garlic

The process is very quick and easy, even those less good at cooking can make delicious bruschetta!

• Preheat the oven with the grill at 200°
• Cut the bread in slices or however you like it better.

Did you know that bruschetta originated as a poor dish? It was in fact prepared by farmers to use up stale bread and make it last longer. Extra virgin olive oil and sea salt acted as preservatives and helped soften the bread.

• Put the bread in the oven for 10 minutes or until toasted.
• When the bread is ready, rub a clove of garlic on it and add a splash of olive oil in each slice.

• Now this is the fun part! We made some bruschetta with sundried tomatoes and cheese, another one with aubergine caponata, and some others with the pesto rosso. In some of them we also add chopped chives. The combinations are endless!
• Buon appetito!

TIPS AND ALTERNATIVES:

The traditional recipe normally includes chopped tomatoes with oil, salt, pepper and some basil. Sometimes, you can also make a small caprese adding mozzarella to the tomatoes. But there are actually endless ways to prepare a good bruschetta, below we suggest some of the tastiest and most popular.

• The simplest and easiest one to make consists only of using garlic, olive oil and salt.
• For cheese lovers, you can also opt to bake the bread with just a little oil and a few slices of mozzarella or scamorza cheese.
• For meat eaters, the options are also varied. A very popular bruschetta in Italy is with ciauscolo (a smoked and dry-cured sausage, made from pork meat and fat cut) or with sausage. Not to mention, of course, those with prosciutto crudo (ham).
• Fish lovers can choose between butter and anchovies or smoked salmon and philadelphia or goat cheese.
• Other spreads that can be used are liver pâté, olive pâté and artichoke pâté. But also with creams of peppers, pistachios, beans, truffles etc.

Have fun and prepare your bruschetta as you like!
(remember that this does not apply to all Italian dishes, if you add pineapple to pizza or ketchup to pasta, an Italian nonna will die).