Burnt tomato, goat cheese and anchovy bruschetta

Burnt tomato, goat cheese and anchovy bruschetta

We would love to make this amazing bruschetta dish from our newfound love, Seven Fires, for a cocktail party. But some people don’t like anchovies, one of the key components of this dish. Said people are also sadly misinformed and missing out, but try convincing the average eater that an anchovy is worth trying. Jeremy gave that a shot when he brought a single-serving tin to work for a snack, and was rewarding with horrified looks and pinched noses from his co-workers.

It’s really too bad, because as my dad pointed out the other day (as he drizzled anchovy oil atop a pizza), unless you’re eating anchovies plain, all you taste when they’re added as an ingredient is umami, that savory oomph that is one of the five basic tastes recognized by the tongue.

In this dish, it’s part of a roller coaster of textures and flavors that twist your tongue in knots as you munch through it. You bite down and taste the crunch of the toasted bread, then the smoky burnt tomato bursts and oozes into a juicy mess, combining with the melting goat cheese and garlicky parsley sauce, while the anchovy sneaks up at the end for a salty, savory kick.

Probably this was too messy for a cocktail party, too. Sorry folks, you’ll have to come over chez nous to try this one.

Burnt Tomato, Goat Cheese and Anchovy Bruschetta

(adapted from Francis Mallmann’s Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentinian Way)

Serves 2 hungry people for dinner, or 4 as appetizers

  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • dried oregano, or fresh if you have it
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 a baguette, a day old, preferable one with a large circumference
  • goat cheese
  • 1 two-oz. can anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained and halved
  • Parsley, Olive Oil, and Garlic sauce (recipe below)

To make the POOG sauce, mince 1/2 cup parsley and a couple cloves garlic together. Alternatively, throw it all in a food processor. Whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil until blended, and season with salt and pepper. Put in the fridge until ready to use.

Cut up the baguette into 8-10 slices and put on a pan for toasting. You can do this under the broiler, or in a toaster oven, or wherever. Just try to time it so they’re done when the tomatoes are.

If you have really big cherry tomatoes, cut them all in half. Otherwise, cut off the top so they have a base to rest upon. Toss them in a bowl with the oregano, olive oil, S + P to taste.

Heat a cast-iron griddle over high heat. When hot, place the cherry tomatoes, cut sides down, on the griddle, trying to keep them one inch apart. DO NOT MOVE THEM, or they will lose their juice and shape.

Cook for at least 4 minutes, until the tomatoes are charred and almost black on the bottom. Then remove to a platter, burnt side up, an inch apart if possible.

Arrange the bread (which you toasted by now, right?) on a platter, and spread some goat cheese on each slice. Place three tomatoes on each piece. Garnish with anchovies and then drizzle the POOG sauce over everything.

If you don’t like anchovies after this, I don’t know what to tell you.