Football Party Recipe: Double Tomato Bruschetta
In my humble opinion, one of the big reasons that New Years’ Resolutions fall by the wayside in about three weeks time is football. Yup. Blame it on football. Americans are obsessed and we are in playoff season. And playoff season (especially when you live about 10 minutes from the New England Patriots home stadium) is all about football parties.
Even when I got together with my gym girlfriends this past Saturday night (all women – no husbands), we watched the game. My friend Hazel, who was born and raised in Ireland, and is now busy working Mom to two athletic boys, offered to host a little get together, since her lucky husband was headed to the big game. While many of us had more than one football party (seriously, it’s like the holidays all over again), we all made some time to get over to Hazel’s that night. I think we were dying to see what we all looked like with real clothes and make-up on! After all, we typically only see each other after rolling out of bed at 5:00 am. Hazel pronounced her house a “ponytail-free zone.”
Hazel’s spread included both indulgent and “healthy” foods.
But her double tomato bruschetta was the big winner that night.
Double Tomato Bruschetta (from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients
- 6 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped (NuVal score of 96)
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil (NuVal score of 56 for Delallo Sun-Dried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs)
- 3 cloves minced garlic (NuVal score of 91)
- 1/4 cup olive oil (NuVal score of 11)
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (Not scored)
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, stems removed (NuVal score of 100)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (NuVal score of 1)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (Not scored)
- 1 French baguette (The baguette that you can buy at the fresh bakery at Hy-Vee supermarkets scores a 21)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (Kraft finely shredded mozzarella, NuVal score of 23)
Directions
- Preheat the oven on broiler setting.
- In a large bowl, combine the roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
- Cut the baguette into 3/4-inch slices. On a baking sheet, arrange the baguette slices in a single layer. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly brown.
- Divide the tomato mixture evenly over the baguette slices. Top the slices with mozzarella cheese.
Broil for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Hazel’s Tip: I always ask the ladies at the bakery to slice the baguette for me that way you get nice uniform pieces.
I loved these little appetizers! Much smaller than a piece of pizza. One or two was enough – and then I tried to stick mostly with veggies and hummus. And I had brought my famous Avocado Salsa – so of course, a few scoops of that. All with a nice glass of red wine and some great conversation with the girls. One of my favorite parts of the night was when we all shared stories of our sightings of the New England Patriots players. Living so close to where they practice and play games, we do bump into them from time to time. My big story was that I sat behind Tedy Bruschi on a train at Thomas the Tank Engine.
And now, we have another football weekend!
Question of the Day
Do you make food for the big football games? What’s on the menu this weekend?
And Another Question of the Day
Do you ever bump into any sports celebrities? What’s your story?
Posted by: Melissa 7 comments
Posted in: appetizers
