I Would Rather Have A Bouquet of Basil

My mom and I planted our garden yesterday and I was inspired to make one of my favorite recipes for dinner, which is my Chicken Bruschetta recipe. Planting my new garden of tomatoes, herbs and various vegetables made me think of the many days last summer, picking tomatoes fresh off the vine and cutting leaves of basil and parsley. There is no better tomato than one picked straight from the vine. They are so much more juicy and when you bite into them and they are slightly warm and sweet. So delicious!!! And basil, well I can't say enough about basil. The smell, the taste...it's AMAZING. I would prefer a bouquet of basil over a bouquet of flowers any day. So in honor of our annual garden I made everyone in my family's favorite recipe. Chicken Bruschetta on a bed of arugula. The peppery taste of the arugula goes perfectly with the sweet taste of the tomatoes and the salty taste of balsamic vinegar. And the crisp sourdough baguette bread is the perfect balance between the delicateness of the other ingredients. You can't help but crave this recipe after you have it. After the first time I tried it, made by Chef Marc Golick of Napa Valley, I ran home to reconstruct it and add my own personality and flavor to it. It is simple enough to make all the time, yet it looks and tastes so complex that you could wow a crowd and maybe even impress your mother-in-law.

Chicken Bruschetta      

Serves 6

Prep time:  30 minutes               Rest time: 2 hours                     Cook time: 30 minutes

There is a lot of prep work to do but it is so worth it when you taste this recipe. It is a favorite in my house and if it were up to my family we would have it for dinner every night.  Use my helpful hints at the bottom of the directions to make the prep work go a little bit faster and less painful.

Tomato Mixture

5 cups of Roma tomatoes chopped

1 ½ cups basil cut into ribbons
Handful of parsley
8 garlic cloves
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Chicken

4 small boneless and skinless chicken breasts or two large chicken breasts

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Finishing Touches

1 Sourdough baguette
6 cups arugula
Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat oven 375°

First step is to making the tomato mixture so that it has time to rest. I think 2 hours is the perfect amount of time for all the flavors to meld together. Cut the tomatoes in half and then remove the seeds from the tomato by using a spoon to scoop the seeds out. Then cut the tomatoes in ¼” strips and then chopping them again into a dice. Now onto the garlic. Separate 8 garlic cloves from the bulb and cut off the root end then remove the garlic skin and mince the garlic and adding it to the bowl of tomatoes. Next chiffonade the basil and chop the parsley, adding both elements to the tomatoes and garlic. Last step in making the bruschetta is to add the olive oil, balsamic oil, salt and pepper. Delicately mix all the ingredients together and taste to see if all the flavors are balanced and lastly cover and place in the refrigerator to rest.

To cook the chicken, place the boneless, skinless chicken breasts on a sheet pan and pour the olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until the juices of the chicken run clear. When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, let it rest for 5 minutes and then slice into pieces.

Move the oven temperature to 400°. Cut the baguette into ½ inch slices and lay on a sheet pan and place in the oven. Cook for 4 minutes on each side until the baguette is crispy, remove from oven and rub a skinless clove of garlic along the crispy baguette. The ridges of the sliced baguette act as a grater infusing garlic taste into the nooks and crannies of the bread. It’s a little extra touch that carries flavor into every element of the recipe.

Now for the crowning glory! Cover the baguette bread with pieces of chicken and then spoon the tomato mixture on top and finally a small dice (or shreds) of mozzarella cheese and place back in the oven until the cheese has melted. Finish up by placing the each piece over a bed of arugula (approximately 1 cup) and spoon any extra of the bruschetta mix over the top and around the outside of the plate.

Prepare yourself because you family and friends are going to be asking you to make this recipe all the time! And, why not?  You too will have a constant craving for this mouthwatering dinner and it’s perfect for the hot nights of summer just around the corner.

Recipe inspired by Chef Marc Golick

Helpful Hints

ü  The first step is to organize and gather all the ingredients for the bruschetta as well as the proper tools for the job. You are going to be doing a lot of cutting and chopping so having everything close by makes it easy almost like an assembly line of vegetables, herbs and fruit (tomato).

ü  Set up your cutting board as well as two bowls. One will be reserved for the bruschetta ingredients as you chop them and one is a garbage bowl. I got the idea of a garbage bowl from Rachael Ray and it has changed my life.

ü  If you have a Slap Chop, or something comparable, then you should definitely use it on the garlic. It will make your life so much easier than mincing 8 cloves of garlic. If you don’t have one I highly recommend buying one. I use mine almost daily.

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