Bruschetta With Mozzarella (Caprese Bruschetta)

🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe:

• It takes about 15 minutes to put this bruschetta with mozzarella appetizer together.
• Simple to make and bursting with flavor with a healthy Caprese topping, everyone will love this tomato mozzarella bruschetta.
• It's budget-friendly, especially when you make the most of in-season tomatoes. 

🥘 Ingredients In This Recipe

The printable recipe further down the page has the complete list of ingredients, including quantities and step-by-step instructions.

For the best-tasting bruschetta, use good quality fresh ingredients.

Bread - you will need a dense, chewy type of bread like sourdough or ciabatta. These types of bread hold their shape well and don't go soggy quickly like soft white bread.

Garlic - for the best taste, use fresh garlic cloves and not bottled or paste.

Tomatoes - use ripe tomatoes and have them at room temperature for the best flavor.

Fresh basil leaves - use as much as you like

Salt - a little salt helps to bring out all the flavors. If you are on a salt-reduced diet, you can skip the salt.

Extra virgin olive oil is the best to use because of its light and delicious flavor. 

Mozzarella - you can use fresh mozzarella cheese of any size. We used cherry bocconcini for this recipe.

🍳 Step By Step Instructions

Step 1 - Roughly cut the tomatoes into small pieces and place them into a bowl.

Step 2 - Stir in some torn basil leaves, as many as you like. Add the olive oil and salt and stir to coat. 

Step 3 - Next, peel the garlic and cut them in half. Toast the bread and while still warm, rub one side of the bread with a cut piece of garlic.

Step 4 - Spoon the tomato mixture over the toasted bread along with some of the juices, top with torn chunks of mozzarella. Drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.

📖 Variations

• Mix half a finely diced red onion, 1 - 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, and a splash of olive oil with the tomatoes.
• Replace the plain bocconcini with marinated mozzarella balls for a different flavor.
• You could also make this recipe with 450 grams (1 pound or 4-5 medium) cherry tomatoes cut into pieces.
• Just before serving, drizzle on a simple balsamic glaze over the mozzarella bruschetta. See below for a simple recipe.

How to Make A Balsamic Glaze

To make a balsamic glaze, mix 2 cups balsamic vinegar and ½ cup brown sugar in a small saucepan. Put over medium heat stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved. 

Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to low, and simmer until the liquid has reduced to half. 

The finished glaze should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Allow it to cool, transfer to a clean, dry jar, and store sealed in the fridge.

💭 Recipe Tips

Use thick slices of bread - For convenience, we like to buy thick pre-sliced bread. If you are slicing the bread yourself, use a good serrated bread knife to make the slices about 1.5 cm (¼ inch) thick because you want the bread slices to hold and not collapse under the weight of the toppings. 

Toasting the bread - We like to use the toaster for toasting the bread. However, if you are doing a big batch, toast the bread in the oven.

To toast bread in the oven, arrange the sliced bread in a single layer onto a baking sheet, then bake in a preheated 180°C (350°F) for about 8-10 minutes or until the top is golden.

Don't skip the garlic rub - the fresh garlic gives the bruschetta a nice distinctive flavor, and the flavor won't be right if you don't use it.

To avoid soggy bread, serve immediately after assembling and don't add too much juice from the bottom of the bowl.

👪 Serving Size

One bruschetta with topping is a serving size.

🍬 Calories Per Serve

Each bruschetta is about 179 calories.

🥗 Serving Suggestions

Keep it casual and allow everyone to make their own bruschetta with mozzarella. 

Place a big bowl of the tomato mixture, pieces of mozzarella, extra basil leaves, olive oil, salt, and toasted bread already smeared with garlic into the center of the table and let everyone help themselves. 

Or do what we do and have it as a main meal and serve it with other toppings like:

• Fresh homemade ricotta cheese
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Cooked bacon pieces
• Roasted cherry tomatoes
• Caramelized onions
• Whipped feta
• Prosciutto

📝 Frequently Asked Questions

🍿 More Snack Ideas

• Italian dipping oil
• Easy pork spring rolls
• Minced chicken meatballs with sweet chili sauce