Vegetable Stuffed Bruschetta Recipe

Bruschetta Recipe Ingredients

For White Beans:

¾ cup cannelloni beans
1 bay leaf
¼ cup olive oil, preferably extra virgin
1 garlic clove, peeled
½ teaspoon salt

For Topping and Bruschetta:

1 small baguette, sliced into thick pieces
1/3 cup oil packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and sliced (1/4 inch thick)
8 to10 fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, sliced thinly plus 1 peeled garlic clove for coating bread
Lemon juice
½ teaspoon chili flakes
2 tablespoon olive oil, preferably extra virgin
2 ounce ricotta salata cheese, grated
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

1. For the beans: Rinse the beans and put them in a medium saucepan. Cover the beans with water, beans should be in 1 inch water. Bring the contents to a boil over medium heat. After a boil take the pan away from the heat immediately and cover it. Hold it for a minute and then change the water. Add half the amount of olive oil, bay leaf and 1 peeled garlic clove. Cook the beans again over low heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer for about 40 to 45 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add salt during the last 10 minutes of cooking beans. Remove the saucepan from heat, cover and hold until the cooking liquid gets cooled. For convenience you may even prepare the beans one or 2 days beforehand and store it in the refrigerator.
2. For the bruschetta topping: Preheat a stove top grill pan and grill the baguette bread on both the sides on medium heat until it is crisp. Meanwhile in a saucepan toast the sliced garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about a minute or until it turns golden brown. Add chili flakes and basil leaves carefully. Transfer the beans to the pan with the help of a slotted spoon. Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid from canned beans or coking liquid and mix well. Hold the contents warm and adjust the consistency as required by adding more cooking or canned liquid, small amounts at a time. Remove the mixture from heat when the basil leaves are welted. Add chopped parsley and sun-dried tomatoes and toss, season with lemon juice, pepper and salt as per taste. Swipe the remaining clove of garlic lightly on one side of the bread. Arrange toasted bruschetta over a serving plate and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Top each with the white bean and tomato mixture. Lastly divide the ricotta salata evenly over the mixture and serve warm. This recipe makes 4 servings.

Health Tip:

• Use whole wheat baguette instead of white bread for more nutritional benefits.
• You may reduce the amount of olive oil to reduce calories and total fat of this recipe.