Tomato Shallot Bruschetta -Samuel

I love all vinaigrettes. I love making them, experimenting with them, and eating them with a nice, freshly baked baguette. So of course I'm always looking for new ways to use them, and as I saw the bright red cherry tomatoes and hint of green basil in my fridge, my mind immediately turned to a fresh bruschetta.

Bruschetta, the ultimate and iconic Italian appetizer. It's funny because what they serve in restaurants nowadays isn't authentic Italian bruschetta. The classic bruschetta is very simply bread rubbed with garlic and olive oil, but I would guess that few of us have the incredibly high-quality olive oils that can star as the main component in our bruschetta.

So here's an easy, tomato shallot bruschetta that can be made within 10 minutes. We're busy college students, after all.

Tomato Shallot Bruschetta
# of servings: 8 
Cost: $2
Time spent: 10 minutes
Ingredients:

• 8 slices of french bread (refer to previous posts for recipe)
• 5 large, fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves shallots
• 1 clove garlic
• 20 cherry tomatoes
• 1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 4.5 tbsp olive oil
• Pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Rub some olive oil on your french bread and either toast, roast, or fry your bread to get a golden color on your bread as well as a crunch.

2.  Finely mince your garlic and shallots and add to a mixing bowl along with your balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

3. Roll up basil leaves and chop through basil finely; never chop the same section twice or it'll bleed.

4. Slice tomatoes into about 4 sections of equal width, and add to the mixture.

5. Stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper to taste.

6. Plate and enjoy