Simple Starters

Pancetta Bruschetta

The holidays are fast approaching and with that comes entertaining and/or attending a number of gatherings where you will need to plan and prepare a dish or a number of dishes.  When you are entertaining and preparing the entire meal, it can be overwhelming so it's really helpful to have a number of easy recipes that do not take a lot of time to throw together.  Bruschetta is one of my favorite simple starters to serve.  It's easy and quick to put together and trust me when I say, it's a huge crowd pleaser.

Bruschetta is an Italian starter or antipasto that consists of grilled bread, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.  The various different toppings you could serve on this bread are endless but the bruschetta that I am accustomed to eating and making typically involves diced tomatoes, garlic and basil.  I served this as a starter for a dinner that I was having recently and decided to add some pancetta to the mix.  It was absolutely delicious!  It was so good that I decided to make "simple starters" a regular addition to my blog and I knew that this would have to be the first.  Here is my super simple starter recipe for Pancetta Bruschetta.

Shopping list of ingredients

1 French baguette

6 ounce package of  pancetta

1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes

1 bunch of basil

grated Parmesan cheese

1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic

olive oil

I first start by cooking my pancetta.  I buy this in the deli section at Hannaford.  It comes in a small 6 ounce package in the specialty meat section.  It is just enough pancetta for this recipe

Pan fry the pancetta bits for around 5 minutes or until they are crispy and golden brown.

Place the cooked pancetta on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the grease and set aside to cool.

While your pancetta cools, you will prepare the topping.  I am using 1 pint of grape tomatoes.

I slice the grape tomatoes in half and add them to a small food processor along with a good bunch of basil, two garlic cloves, the juice of one lemon, about a tablespoon of olive oil, grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Chop the topping ingredients in the food processor until you have a nice chunky mixture similar to the consistency of salsa. At this point you will add the cooked and cooled pancetta to the mixture

Next you will cut the entire baguette into small slices that are about an inch and a half thick. I only used a half of a baguette for the sake of saving time while preparing this blog post but the recipe is for a whole baguette.

Place the slices of the baguette onto a lined sheet pan and drizzle the slices generously with olive oil.

Place the pan into the oven under the broiler set at high for 5 minutes or until the slices are golden brown and crusty on the outside.

Remove the pan from the oven and add the prepared topping mixture to the slices then sprinkle each slice with as much grated Parmesan as you prefer and drizzle some additional olive oil over each slice.

Place the pan back into the oven under the broiler for about another 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle additional sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste.

To serve, place the bruschetta slices onto a platter with a small ramekin of olive oil in the center of the platter for dipping.  I always like to add some fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt to the olive oil for added flavor.  You can also add some fresh herbs to infuse some flavor into the oil.   

As I mentioned before this is a huge crowd pleaser.  It is almost always the first thing to go at my gatherings and is loved by both kids and adults alike.  If you are one that can't cook or do not like to cook, this is a great starter for you if you find yourself having to come up with something to make for a gathering.  This is truly a super simple starter that anyone can make but will make a big impression on your guest!

Enjoy!