**Bruschetta for the Year of the Tiger** 🐯✨
Description
Perfect for the table and with drinks. The simplest and most classic bruschetta — toasted bread (on the grill, on a grill rack, or in a dry skillet), brushed with olive oil and rubbed with a garlic clove. There are many ways to prepare bruschetta: with prosciutto, tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, olives, and other ingredients. I suggest you try bruschetta with spiced roasted pumpkin with butter and garlic. Everything is fragrant and delicious! Assemble the bruschetta right before serving at the table. Serve the appetizer at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare the ingredients; you will also need a Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutter. I have a large homemade baguette, so I cut each slice in half. If you have store-bought baguette, the slices are small—you'll need 20 pieces.
- 2
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Peel the pumpkin, removing the skin and the fibrous inner flesh. Cut the firm pumpkin flesh into cubes. Place on a baking sheet or in a suitable baking dish. Add salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and garlic (trim off the root end; do not peel the cloves so the garlic does not burn). Drizzle with vegetable oil and bake until tender, about 35–40 minutes.
- 3
Step 3
The pumpkin is ready when a toothpick slides easily into the pieces. Remove the rosemary and thyme.
- 4
Step 4
Mash the pumpkin with a fork, press the garlic and mash it well too. If the pumpkin is very juicy, set it in a sieve and let it drain thoroughly. Adjust the salt and pepper; you can add a couple of drops of olive oil for aroma.
- 5
Step 5
Using a cookie cutter, shape the baguette into Christmas trees.
- 6
Step 6
In the oven or on a dry skillet, toast the tree-shaped pieces on both sides until golden brown.
- 7
Step 7
Assemble the bruschetta. On each tree-shaped piece, generously top with pumpkin and roasted garlic, and garnish with thin strips of olives to imitate tiger stripes.
- 8
Step 8
Bruschetta is ready! Happy New Year!